SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
A History of Human Spaceflight
Top image: Huntsville Times newspaper's fornt page coverage of the Gagarin flight. Middle image: Yuri Gagarin on his way to the launch pad. Behind him is cosmonaut German Titov. Bottom image: Space Shuttle astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen (in tan space suits) are greeted by members of the ground crew after Columbia's maiden flight. TO VIEW IMAGES GO TO: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_800.html
On April 12, 1961, the era of human spaceflight began when the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in his Vostock I spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes.
Twenty years later, on the morning of April 12, 1981, two astronauts sat strapped into their seats on the flight deck of Columbia, a radically new spacecraft known as the space shuttle.
Astronaut John Young, a veteran of four previous spaceflights including a walk on the moon in 1972, commanded the mission. Navy test pilot Bob Crippen piloted the mission and would go on to command three future shuttle missions.
Top image: Huntsville Times newspaper's fornt page coverage of the Gagarin flight.
Middle image: Yuri Gagarin in the bus taking him to the launch pad for the launch of Vostok 1 in which he made his flight. Behind him in another orange pressure suit is German Titov, the back-up pilot for Vostok 1 and the pilot for the later Vostok 2 mission.
Bottom image: Space Shuttle astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen (in tan space suits) are greeted by members of the ground crew moments after stepping off the shuttle Columbia following its maiden flight.
Relive the historic STS-1 flight through video, a photo gallery and downloads for desktop. + View Feature javascript:NewWindow('/externalflash/sts-1/index.html','flash','755','500','no')
For more information on the STS-1, NASA first shuttle flight, visit www.nasa.gov/sts1 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/index.html.
/Image credit: NASA /