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Episodes Tagged with "Yuri Gagarin"

Posted on August 27, 2015

Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. was Born on February 28, 1924 in a town that no longer exist, Phoebus, Virginia. The town has now been engulfed by Hampton, Virginia. Kraft was named after his father, Christopher Columbus Kraft, who was born in New Yor...

3-Christopher_Kraft,_flight_director_during_Project_Mercury,_works_at_his_console_inside_the_Flight_Control_area_at_Mercury_Mission_Control

2-Wally Schirra (right) consults the flight plan for his Mercury-Atlas-8 (MA-8) mission with Flight Director Chris Kraft

1-Chris Kraft and Rober Gilruth

Posted on September 3, 2015

At the beginning of the Apollo program, Kraft retired as a flight director to concentrate on management and mission planning. In 1972, he became director of the Manned Spacecraft Center, following the path of his mentor Robert Gilruth.

3-Robert F. Thompson (center) and Christopher C. Kraft Jr. (right) brief Rear Admiral W.C. Abhau

2-Kraft with his new flight directors before the Gemini 4 mission Clockwise from lower right Kraft, Gene Kranz, Glynn Lunney and John Hodge

1-Kraft Kranz Gemini Fuel Cell problem

Posted on September 10, 2015

As Procedures Officer, Kranz was put in charge of integrating Mercury Control with the Launch Control Team at Cape Canaveral, Florida, writing the “Go/NoGo” procedures that allowed missions to continue as planned or be aborted, along with serving as ...

3-Kranz and his teacher Kraft

2-Kranz at his console on May 30, 1965, in the Mission Operations Control Room, Mission Control Center, Houston

1-Kranz-F86 Sabre Cat

Posted on December 3, 2015

With the success of Kosmos 146 and in spite of the failures of the first three 7K-Ok’s it was now time to plan for a Soyuz manned mission. The planned involved the launch and docking of two piloted Soyuzes. Soyuz 7K-OK production model number 4 was a...

VladimirKomarov_sketch

7k-0k and l1

Kosmos-146

Posted on December 10, 2015

“I was the last one to see him alive and I told him ‘See you soon!’” Yuri Gagarin, recalls bidding farewell to his friend Kamarov in Soyuz 1.

3-soyuz1_01

2- Soyuz 1

1-GagarinKamarov

Posted on December 17, 2015

“It’s a terrible scene. Komarov burned up. All the instruments burned. We must quickly find out what prevented the main parachute from unlatching.” Chief Designer Mishin after he arrived at the Soyuz 1 crash site.

3-VladimirKomarov_Soyuz1

2-soyuz-1-crash

1-Soyuz 1 crash site

Posted on January 7, 2016

After 1957, the Soviets became accustomed to achieving “world firsts” in space accomplishments. Nevertheless, 10 years later they were not confident that they could pull off the world’s first fully automatic rendezvous and docking of two un-piloted S...

3-Igla_docking_system_antennas-fr

2-Armen Sergeyevich Mnatsakanyan Main designer of Igla and Kurs

1-Mishin at Baykonur in 1967

Posted on March 3, 2016

When we left the Soviet Union they had somewhat successfully landed a probe on Venus and they had completed the automatic docking of two Soyuz 7K-OK spacecrafts.  However they did not reach their goal of a circumlunar flight in time for the 50th anni...

3-ProtonZond

2-Mishin-AganzanovChertok

1-L1-Zond

Posted on March 9, 2016

Hundreds of millions of people all over the planet had seen Gagarin smiling joyfully in person or on television. He was theirs, familiar to everyone, and at the same time a “Citizen of the Universe.”

3-50th anniversary stamp of Ukraine

2-Plaque indicating Gagarin’s interment in the Kremlin Wall

1-YuriGagarin

Posted on March 16, 2016

The first attempt for a Zond 4 follow-up launched on April 22.  It failed when the Launch Escape System sent an erroneous abort command at T+260 seconds and shut down the Proton booster’s second stage. The escape rocket fired and pulled the descent m...

3-Scientist observing lunar tort

2-Zond-5 has delivered two tortoises back to the Earth

1-Zond 5 Makes Lunar Round-Trip

Posted on April 27, 2016

The soviets showed some confidence in their spacecraft by launching the unmanned Soyuz 2 first, but showed some caution by not sending a cosmonaut in Soyuz 2.

soyuz-3on the pad

beregovoy_georgi

Soyuz 7K-OK assembly credit rkk Energia

Posted on May 4, 2016

Trouble began on the sixth day of the flight, November 17. The capsule developed an atmospheric  leak, the pressure first dropping from 760 to 380 mm of Mercury.  With the drop in cabin pressure all the animal test subjects died.  It would have kille...

3-Zond 6 Double-dip reentry

2-Zond 6 Mission Profile

1-Proton-K with 7K-L1

Posted on August 22, 2013

“We have been plunged into a race for the conquest of outer space. As a reason for this undertaking some look to the new and exciting scientific discoveries which are certain to be made. Others feel the challenge to transport man beyond frontiers he ...

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413px-John_F._Kennedy_speaks_at_Rice_University

Posted on August 2, 2024

Before joint missions, such as Apollo and Soyuz, could take place, both nations had to find a compelling rationale for cooperation, ultimately overcoming the seemingly insurmountable barriers to foster genuine cooperative space projects.

Laika

Astronaut John Glenn & President J.F. Kennedy

3-B-Drydebn

1-Yuri