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First Human in Space
| title |
First Human in Space |
| date |
04.12.1961 |
| description |
On April 12, 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space. News of his successful launch stunned the world and spurred the American space program to catch up. The name of his spacecraft was Vostok 1. Vostok 1 had two sections. One section was for Yuri. The second section was for supplies needed for Gagarin to live such as oxygen and water. Vostok 1 circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. Vostok's reentry was controlled by a computer. Gagarin did not land inside of Vostok 1. He ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute. Born near Moscow, Russia on Mar. 9, 1934, Gagarin joined the Soviet Air Force in 1955. By 1959, he was training to be a cosmonaut. Gagarin was killed in a plane crash on Mar. 27, 1968. He was 34. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Looking Closely at 'Yuri'
PIA07480
Sol (our sun)
Microscopic Imager
| Title |
Looking Closely at 'Yuri' |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This picture from the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is a mosaic of a target called "Gagarin" on a rock referred to as "Yuri." Opportunity brushed the target with the rock abrasion tool during the rover's 401st martian day, or sol, (March 10, 2005) and then took the individual images that are combined into this mosaic. The rock abrasion tool ground into the same target on the following sol. The circle from which the tool's wire brush has scoured dust off the rock surface is about 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter. This rock is near the rim of "Vostok" crater. Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit Earth. The Russian cosmonaut's spacecraft was named Vostok NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS1. |
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Frosty Dunes
PIA08069
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Frosty Dunes |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
12 April 2006 Today, the MOC Team celebrates the 45th anniversary of the first human flight into space, that of Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961, and the 25th anniversary of the first NASA Space Shuttle flight on 12 April 1981, by briefly pondering the wonders of our Solar System and the opportunities of the age in which we live. Although humans have not ventured to the Moon in more than 30 years, and have not yet gone to Mars, we can all go there through the eyes of our robotic explorers. Mars, perhaps the most Earth-like (yet so very different!) planet in our star's system, is tilted on its axis by about 25°-not all that different than Earth's ~23.5°. Thus, Mars, like Earth, experiences a changing of seasons as the planet revolves around the Sun. At high latitudes in each hemisphere during autumn and winter, carbon dioxide frost accumulates on the surface. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dunes covered and delineated by seasonal frost in the north polar region of Mars. The winds responsible for the formation of these dunes blew primarily from the northwest (upper left), with additional influences from the north and northeast. During the late spring and summer seasons, these dunes would look much darker than their surroundings, but in this late winter image, the dunes and the plains on which they occur are all covered with carbon dioxide frost. "Location near": 78.4°N, 76.7°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
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Springtime Dunes, 2004
PIA05741
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Springtime Dunes, 2004 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
12 April 2004 Today is April 12, 2004, the 43rd anniversary of the first human flight into space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961) and the 23rd anniversary of the first NASA Space Shuttle flight (Columbia, 1981). Meanwhile, on Mars, spring is in full swing in the martian northern hemisphere. With spring comes the annual defrosting of the north polar dunes. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image, acquired on April 7, 2004, shows a field of small barchan (crescent-shaped) dunes covered with the remains of wintertime frost. The dark spots around the base of each dune mark the first signs of the spring thaw. The sand in these dunes is dark, like the black sand beaches of Hawaii or the dark, sandy soil of the rover, Opportunity, landing site, but in winter and spring their dark tone is obscured by bright carbon dioxide frost. This picture is located near 75.9°N, 45.3°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. |
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