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Human Space Flight Marks 2 Big Anniversaries

Suzanne Presto April 12, 2011

Tuesday is the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight, and the 30th anniversary of the first launch of a U.S. space shuttle.

On April 12, 1961, 27-year-old Yuri Gagarin blasted off in the sphere-shaped Vostok 1 capsule. The Soviet Air Force pilot made one orbit around the Earth, and re-entered the planet’s atmosphere, after his 108-minute flight.

Twenty years later, to the day, the U.S. space shuttle program launched its maiden voyage. American astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen blasted into space aboard the space shuttle Columbia . In 2003, Columbia's missions came to a tragic end, when a piece of insulation foam during launch punched a hole in the shuttle's wings, allowing hot gases into the craft as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. The shuttle disintegrated, and all seven astronauts on board were killed.

The U.S. space agency, NASA, plans to end the 30-year shuttle program later this year.

The next shuttle launch is set for April 29. NASA announced Tuesday where the retiring shuttles will go on display after the final mission, now scheduled for June. More than 20 museums were vying to be the spacecrafts' new home.

Enterprise is the centerpiece of the new space hangar. A Manned Maneuvering Unit, used for untethered spacewalks, hangs above the orbiter
NASA/Renee Bouchard
Enterprise is the centerpiece of the new space hangar. A Manned Maneuvering Unit, used for untethered spacewalks, hangs above the orbiter

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Atlantis will go to the visitor complex at Kennedy Space Center, NASA's launch headquarters in the southern U.S. state of Florida. Discovery will go to the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum outpost in northern Virginia, and Endeavour will reside in the California Science Center in Los Angeles. New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum will receive the prototype Enterprise, which never flew into space but was used for test flights in the 1970s.

After re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, Gagarin ejected from Vostok 1 and parachuted to earth. The Soviet government kept this a secret for many years for fear the historic flight would not be considered valid because Gagarin did not land with his spacecraft. Gagarin, a Soviet Air Force pilot, was killed in a flight training exercise on March 27, 1968.

The former Soviet Union’s 1961 victory in manned spaceflight gave it an advantage over the Americans in the Cold War era race to reach the moon. However, the competition was settled in 1969 when the United States became the first nation to put men on the moon.

Since then, the U.S., Russia and other countries have become partners in building and continually manning the International Space Station. Last week, a Russian Soyuz capsule ferried two Russian cosmonauts and an American astronaut to the ISS for a five-month stay. They joined three crewmates already aboard the orbiting science outpost.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.