Mission Vostok 1

1 mission

1.1 launch
1.2 time in orbit
1.3 reentry , landing

mission

at 05:30 moscow time, on morning of april 12, 1961, both gagarin , backup titov woken. given breakfast, assisted spacesuits, , transported launch pad. gagarin entered vostok 1 spacecraft, , @ 07:10 local time (04:10 utc), radio communication system turned on. once gagarin in spacecraft, picture appeared on television screens in launch control room onboard camera. launch not occur 2 hours, , during time gagarin chatted mission s main capcom, chief designer sergei korolev, nikolai kamanin, , few others. following series of tests , checks, forty minutes after gagarin entered spacecraft, hatch closed. gagarin, however, reported hatch not sealed properly, , technicians spent hour removing screws , sealing hatch again. according 2014 obituary, vostok s chief designer, oleg ivanovsky, helped rebolt hatch. there disagreement on whether hatch in fact not sealed correctly, more recent account stated indication false.

during time gagarin requested music played on radio. korolev suffering chest pains , close nervous breakdown, 24th soviet space launch , 16th involving luna/vostok booster, , point 12 launches had failed, success rate of 50%. 2 vostoks had failed reach orbit due launch vehicle malfunctions , 2 malfunctioned in orbit. korolev given pill calm him down. gagarin, on other hand, described calm; half hour before launch pulse recorded @ 64 beats per minute.

launch

launch of vostok 1




06:07 ut launch occurred baikonur cosmodrome site no.1. korolev radioed, preliminary stage..... intermediate..... main..... lift off! wish flight. right. gagarin replied, let s go! (poyekhali!).
06:09 ut (t+ 119 s) 4 strap-on boosters of vostok rocket used last of propellant , dropped away core vehicle.
06:10 ut (t+ 156 s) payload shroud covering vostok 1 released, uncovering window @ gagarin s feet, optical orientation device vzor (lit. or glance ).
06:12 ut (t+ 300 s) rocket core stage used propellant , fell away capsule , final rocket stage. final rocket stage ignited.
06:13 ut gagarin reported, ...the flight continuing well. can see earth. visibility good.... see everything. there s amount of space under cumulus cloud cover. continue flight, good.
06:14 ut vostok 1 passed on central russia. gagarin reported, working well. systems working. let s keep going!
06:15 ut 3 minutes burn of final rocket stage, gagarin radioed, zarya-1, zarya-1 , can t hear well. feel fine. m in spirits. m continuing flight... vostok 1 started move out of radio range of baikonur ground station.
06:17 ut rocket final stage shut down , vostok 1 reached orbit. ten seconds later rocket separated capsule.

time in orbit

ground trace of gagarin s complete orbit; landing point west of takeoff point because of earth s eastward rotation.



06:18 ut (t+ 676 s) gagarin reported, craft operating normally. can see earth in view port of vzor . proceeding planned . vostok 1 passed on soviet union , moved on over siberia.
06:21 ut vostok 1 passed on kamchatka peninsula , out on north pacific ocean. gagarin radioed, ...the lights on on descent mode monitor. m feeling fine, , m in spirits. cockpit parameters: pressure 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in compartment 1; first automatic 155; second automatic 155; pressure in retro-rocket system 320 atmospheres....
06:25 ut vostok 1 began diagonal crossing of pacific ocean kamchatka peninsula southern tip of south america, gagarin requested information orbital parameters: can tell me flight? can tell me? . ground station @ khabarovsk didn t have orbital parameters yet, , reported back, there no instructions no. 20 [code name korolyov], , flight proceeding normally. (ground control did not know until 25 minutes after launch stable orbit had been achieved.)
06:31 ut gagarin transmitted khabarovsk ground station, feel splendid, well, well, well. give me results on flight! . @ time, vostok 1 nearing vhf radio horizon khabarovsk, , responded, repeat. can t hear . gagarin transmitted again, feel good. give me data on flight! vostok 1 passed out of vhf range of khabarovsk ground station.
06:37 ut vostok 1 continued on journey sun set on north pacific. gagarin crossed night, northwest of hawaiian islands. out of vhf range ground stations, communications continued via hf radio.
06:46 ut khabarovsk ground station sent message kk via telegraph (on hf radio vostok 1). code meaning, report monitoring of commands, request gagarin report when spacecraft automated descent system had received instructions ground control.
06:48 ut vostok 1 crossed equator @ 170° west in southeast direction, , began crossing south pacific. gagarin transmitted on hf radio, transmitting regular report message: 9 hours 48 minutes (moscow time), flight proceeding successfully. spusk-1 operating normally. mobile index of descent mode monitor moving. pressure in cockpit 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in compartment 1.2 ... manual 150; first automatic 155; second automatic 155; retro rocket system tanks 320 atmospheres. feel fine....
06:49 ut gagarin reported on night side of earth.
06:51 ut gagarin reported sun-seeking attitude control system switched on; oriented vostok 1 retrofire. automatic/solar system backed manual/visual system; either 1 operate 2 redundant cold nitrogen gas thruster systems, each 10 kg (22 lb) of gas.
06:53 ut khabarovsk ground station sent gagarin via hf radio, order of no.33 (general nikolai kamanin), transmitters have been switched on, , transmitting this: flight proceeding planned , orbit calculated. vostok 1 known in stable orbit; gagarin acknowledged.
06:57 ut vostok 1 on south pacific between new zealand , chile gagarin radioed, ...i m continuing flight, , m on america. transmitted telegraph signal on .
07:00 ut vostok 1 crossed strait of magellan @ tip of south america. news of vostok 1 mission broadcast on radio moscow.
07:04 ut gagarin sent spacecraft status message, similar 1 @ 06:48. not received ground stations.
07:09 ut gagarin sent spacecraft status message, not received ground stations.
07:10 ut vostok 1 passed on south atlantic, daylight again. @ point, retrofire 15 minutes away.
07:13 ut gagarin sent fourth spacecraft status message; moscow received partial message: read well. flight going....
07:18 ut gagarin sent spacecraft status message, not received ground stations.
07:23 ut gagarin sent spacecraft status message, not received ground stations.

the automatic orientation system brought vostok 1 alignment retrofire 1 hour flight.

reentry , landing


the vostok 1 capsule on display @ rkk energiya museum

at 07:25 ut, spacecraft s automatic systems brought required attitude (orientation) retrorocket firing, , shortly afterwards, liquid-fueled engine fired 42 seconds on west coast of africa, near angola, 8,000 kilometers (4,300 nautical miles) uprange of landing point. orbit s perigee , apogee had been selected cause reentry due orbital decay within 10 days (the limit of life support system function) in event of retrorocket malfunction. however, actual orbit differed planned , not have allowed descent until 20 days.

ten seconds after retrofire, commands sent separate vostok service module reentry module (code name sharik , little ball ), equipment module unexpectedly remained attached reentry module bundle of wires. @ around 07:35 ut, 2 parts of spacecraft began reentry , went through strong gyrations vostok 1 neared egypt. @ point wires broke, 2 modules separated, , descent module settled proper reentry attitude. gagarin telegraphed ok despite continuing gyrations; later reported did not want make noise had (correctly) reasoned gyrations did not endanger mission (and apparently caused spherical shape of reentry module). gagarin continued descent, remained conscious experienced 8 g during reentry. (gagarin s own report states on 10 g .)

at 07:55 ut, when vostok 1 still 7 km ground, hatch of spacecraft released, , 2 seconds later gagarin ejected. @ 2.5 km (8,200 ft) altitude, main parachute deployed vostok spacecraft. 2 schoolgirls witnessed vostok landing , described scene: huge ball, 2 or 3 meters high. fell, bounced , fell again. there huge hole hit first time.

gagarin s parachute opened right away, , ten minutes later, @ 08:05 ut, gagarin landed. both , spacecraft landed via parachute 26 km (16 mi) south west of engels, in saratov region @ 51°16′14″n 45°59′50″e / 51.270682°n 45.99727°e / 51.270682; 45.99727. 2800 km west of planned landing site (near baikonur).

a farmer , daughter observed strange scene of figure in bright orange suit large white helmet landing near them parachute. gagarin later recalled, when saw me in space suit , parachute dragging alongside walked, started away in fear. told them, don t afraid, soviet citizen you, has descended space , must find telephone call moscow!