Re: tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight

We haven't.  Nine sounded high to me and I checked we've only been six times.  
If Wiki is to be believed, (and it looks right)there were ten planned missions 
but one didn't make it, (Apollo 13), and a three were canceled for budget 
reasons.

We've orbited the moon 10 times, but I don't think of those as trips "to the 
moon".

Mike F.  

 




________________________________
From: Johne Cook <[email protected]>
To: DADL (off topic) <[email protected]>
Sent: Mon, April 11, 2011 4:34:04 PM
Subject: Re: [DADL-OT] tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the first human 
spaceflight

I don't think I knew we'd been to the moon nine times...

Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |




On Mon, Apr 11, 2011 at 4:02 PM, Peter T. Chattaway<petert-LOVM4QxV+tDq6eQxt3vRmLDks+cytr/[email protected]> 
wrote:

http://www.straight.com/article-386136/vancouver/yuri-gagarin-anniversary-marks-50-years-human-spaceflight

>
>Yuri Gagarin anniversary marks 50 years of human spaceflight
>
>By Doug Sarti, April 11, 2011
>
>Fifty years ago this week, 27-year-old Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Alekseyvich 
>Gagarin exclaimed "Poyekhali!" ("Off we go!") and blasted off from the Russian 
>steppes to become the first human in space.
>
>A triumph of engineering, his April 12, 1961, flight was also a triumph of Cold 
>War politics for the Soviet Union.
>
>When Gagarin's spacecraft, the cramped Vostok3A, roared into orbit, it was the 
>culmination of a fierce four-year competition between the Soviets and the United 
>States to see who could get a man into space soonest.
>
>It was pretty much a dead heat, with the first American, Alan Shepard, 
>originally slated to fly in early March of 1961. When technical difficulties 
>sidelined Shepard's flight for two months, Gagarin had his chance to make 
>history.
>
>With their heavy-lift Vostok rockets, the Soviets had a decided advantage in the 
>early days of spaceflight. Their missions displayed a dazzling number of 
>"firsts": First satellite, first animal in space (a dog named Laika), first man 
>in space, and before long, the first woman and first multi-person crew in space, 
>as well as the first spacewalk.
>
>In 1961, Soviet rockets could fly higher, longer, and carry larger payloads than 
>contemporary American rockets. In fact, when Shepard finally did launch, nearly 
>a month after Gagarin, it was a somewhat anticlimactic suborbital mission -- a 
>simple up-and-down ballistic flight. Still, it didn't stop the American PR 
>machine from billing Shepard as "The First Free Man in Space".
>
>At the time, Gagarin's 108-minute flight -- like much of the inner workings the 
>Soviet Union -- was veiled in secrecy and the mission wasn't even announced 
>until Gagarin had returned safely. While the flight went smoothly, there was one 
>major cover-up which didn't come to light until later: the fact that Gagarin had 
>bailed out after re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
>
>While early American spacecraft were designed to semi-gently splash down on the 
>ocean, the Vostoks were constructed for harder landings on the grasslands of 
>Western Russia. Since Soviet engineers were still working the kinks out of their 
>retro-rocket braking system, it was decided that it would be safer to have 
>Gagarin eject at 20,000 feet and parachute back to Earth.
>
>A reasonable plan, but one at odds with the regulations of the 
>FdrationAronautique Internationale -- the global organization overseeing 
>aviation achievements -- which stipulated that a pilot must land his craft to 
>qualify for a record. Thus, the story was concocted, and perpetuated, that 
>Gagarin remained in the Vostok throughout the entire landing.
>
>Regardless, once Gagarin was back on terrafirma and the story broke, the world 
>was electrified. And, aside from the tremendous achievement itself, it was 
>obvious the Soviets had once again bested the American space program.
>
>The perceived loss of national pride was even enough to spur America on to the 
>moon. Angling for a space achievement where the U.S. could be first, U.S. 
>president John F. Kennedy declared, little more than a month after Gagarin's 
>flight, "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, 
>before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely 
>to the Earth."
>
>For his bravery, Gagarin was awarded his nation's highest medal, Hero of the 
>Soviet Union. He remained in the Soviet Air Force, went to engineering school, 
>and continued working for the space program, although he was taken out of the 
>flight rotation. A hero of Gagarin's magnitude, the Soviet leadership felt, was 
>too valuable to risk in the dangerous business of spaceflight.
>
>Tragically, even the Politburo couldn't keep Gagarin safe from occupational 
>hazards. In 1968, while on a routine training mission, Gagarin was killed when 
>he lost control of his MiG 15 and crashed in western Russia. While a stunned 
>nation mourned, he was given a state funeral and his ashes were interred in the 
>walls of the Kremlin.
>
>Today, when spaceflight is perceived as routine.boring, even -- the anniversary 
>of Gagarin's historic mission reminds us that it wasn't always so. As the United 
>States and the Soviet Union grappled for a foothold in the heavens, it was a 
>contest of not only national pride, but political ideology.
>
>It's also a reminder of the difficulty, expense, and danger inherent in space 
>travel. Except for nine quick trips to the moon, humans haven't strayed from the 
>same close Earth orbit that Gagarin trailblazed a half-century ago.
>
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