Early manned space flight Flashcards
On what date Yuri Gagarin become the first man in Space
When and how did Gagarin die
What was the name of his spacecraft
What was his call sign (green)
12 April 1961 (mission lasted just under 2 hrs)
1968 crashed his MiG-15 training jet
Vostok 1 (means East 1 or Orient 1) - the rocket was also called Vostok (specifically Vostok-K), it is of the R-7 family
Kedr (Cedar in Russian)
What was the name of the first US manned spaceflight programme and between what years did it run
when was the first subortal flight
when was the first orbital flight
Who were the first 7 astronauts associated with the programme (green)
Project Mercury (1959-1963)
First suborbital was on 5 May 1961
First orbital flight was on 20 Feb 1962
Scott Carpenter Gordon Cooper John Glenn Gus Grissom Wally Schirra Alan Shepard Deke Slayton
What was the second stage US manned spaceflight programme called and how many manned flights were there, between what years
What was the project objective
What rockets did it use (and where were they launched from)
Project Gemini
10 manned flights from 1965-1966
Its objective was to develop space travel techniques in support of Apollo, which had the goal of landing men on the Moon. Gemini achieved missions long enough for a trip to the Moon and back, perfected extra-vehicular activity (working outside a spacecraft), and orbital maneuvers necessary to achieve rendezvous and docking.
All Gemini flights were launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida using the Titan II Gemini launch vehicle (“GLV”)
Which three Astronaut Group 1 veterans also flew on Gemini missions
L. Gordon Cooper
Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom
Walter Shirra
Who were the ‘new nine’ of Astronaut Group 2 - a more complex programme requiring the best
Neil Armstrong
Frank Borman
Charles ‘Pete’ Conrad
James Lovell
James McDivitt
Elliot See
Thomas Stafford
Ed White
John Young
What was the name of the rocket launched the first American into space
What was the name of Alan Sheppard’s spacecraft
What was the name of John Glenn’s spacecraft
Who was the second American in [sub orbital] space
Mercury-Redstone
Freedom 7 (launched 5 May 1961) launched on a Mercury-Atlas rocket - it was mission after Gus
Friendship 7
Gus Grissom in Liberty Bell 7 (21 July 1961)
Who was the first US astronaut to Space walk
Ed White
later killed in Apollo one
Who was the first person to be killed during a spaceflight
Vladimir Komarov in Soyuz 1 24 April 1967 because of a parachute failure on re-entry
The key thing is that Soyuz 1 was launched when it wasn’t ready for political reasons
First crewed mission lasting a full day
Gherman Titov (Vostok 2) Aug 1961
Sergei Korolev (1907-1966)
father of the Russian manned space programme
His death marked an end to the first golden period of Russian manned space flight
What went wrong with Alexey Leonov’s mission (what was the mission called)
How long was his space
12min walk (Voskhod 2)
His suit started to expand when he was spacewalking, so he was lucky he could get back in the spacecraft (he had to release oxygen in the suit without telling ground control)
Then they had a massive build up of oxygen in the cabin, so lucky they weren’t blown up by a spark
And the orbital module did not disconnect properly from the landing module, so it span widly until friction burnt off the connecting straps - and the delay left them in the taiga - a harsh freezing environment with bears and wolves.
How did Gagarin land after his flight
He parachuted out of the capsule
Who was supposed to fly in the first Gemini mission, and why didn’t he
Alan Shepherd,
he had a problem with his inner ear
After surgery in 1969, he joined the Apollo programme in 1971, bagging Apollo 14
In what way did Gus Grissom have a lucky escape in his Mercury mission
Shortly after spashdown the explosive bolts triggered accidentally, flooding the capsule and sinking it quickly, he was lucky to get out
What was the peak altitude of Shepherd’s first flight
What got Glenn into orbit (altitude wise)
187km (116 miles)]
Glenn got up to 265km
