Human space flight

From TinWiki.org

Human space flight has been a dream of mankind dating back thousands of years.

Until the 1950s mankind hadn't developed a technology to boost objects into orbit, as of the year 2008 only three nations have succeeded in launching humans into orbit around the Earth and only the United States of America has succeeded in landing man on another body, (Earth's Moon).

The first successful orbital flight being by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). The second, the United States of America (U.S.A.), and third, the People's Republic Of China (China) has recently launched three orbital missions

A chronological history of notable human crewed missions to space.

1 First recorded attempt
2 Vostok 1
3 Freedom 7
4 Friendship 7
5 Vostok 6
6 Also on tinWiki
7 ATS Discussion Threads
8 External Sources

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First recorded attempt

Wan Hu, a scientist during the Ming dynasty is thought to have strapped 47 primitive rockets to a chair in an attempt to reach space. Legend says there was a massive explosion when the rockets were lit and no lift off was witnessed. It is noted that Wan Hu disappeared in the conflagration and he was never seen again.

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Vostok 1

See main article Vostok 1

On April 12, 1961, the former USSR conducted the first publicly recorded successful launch of a human into orbital space with and the safe return of the human crew, namely Yuri Gagarin. This space flight was called Vostok 1. Yuri made a single orbit around Earth lasting 108 minutes. On re-entry he parachuted, as planned, from the spacecraft at 23,000 feet because the impact of the capsule may have killed him. At that time, the official USSR announcement of this event falsely claimed that Yuri landed safely within the capsule.

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Freedom 7

Freedom 7 was the capsule of the space flight called Mercury-Redstone 3, which was a Unite States' human crewed space mission launched on May 5, 1961. Freedom 7 performed a suborbital flight piloted by astronaut Alan Shepard who was the first American in space as a result of this mission. The flight lasted less than 16 minutes and attained an altitude of just over 187 km.

Unlike the earlier Soviet Vostok 1 flight, Shepard did not orbit the earth, but simply went up and down, which requires a less powerful rocket and simpler guidance. However, he was the first astronaut to safely return to Earth inside his vehicle.

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