VOSTOK
History was made in the Vostok spacecraft on April 12, 1961, when Russian Yuri Gagarin made one complete orbit of the Earth, a 1 hr., 48 min. trip that was the first manned space flight. A five-rocket launcher propelled the Vostok into space, where Gagarin rode in the spherical cabin above the service module that detached upon reentry. Because scientists didn't know what effect space travel might have on a human motor system, the craft didn't have any controls for maneuvering, which meant Gagarin went up not as a pilot but as a simple passenger — and came down (via parachute after ejecting at 20,000 feet over Kazakhstan) a hero.
MERCURY CAPSULES
The first American-manned spacecraft were the capsules occupied by the original Mercury 7 astronauts. Alan Shepard — after a four-hour wait and an unexpected bladder overload — was first aboard Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961. Unlike the Russian's Vostok vehicle, the American capsule allowed for some maneuvering, something the astronauts — all daring military and test pilots — insisted upon. Shepard would not eject from the cramped spacecraft until it had landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean, from which he and vehicle would be rescued by helicopter. Gus Grissom (pictured) nearly avoided disaster on the next manned flight when, after touchdown, the emergency hatch blew and the capsule subsequently flooded and was lost. Grissom was not harmed. Third and most celebrated was John Glenn's 1962 flight aboard Friendship 7, which orbited the Earth three times and got America back in the space race with the Russians. Glenn was honored with a ticker tape parade down Broadway rivaling that of Lindbergh's 35 years earlier.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Years behind schedule, over budget and stalled because of the recent grounding of the U.S. space shuttle fleet after the destruction of Columbia, the International Space Station is a collaborative effort of NASA, the 11 nations that comprise the European Space Agency and the space programs of Russia, Japan, Canada and Brazil. The first phase of construction began with the launch of a Russian-built module in 1998, shortly after two years of continuous stay had ended for astronauts aboard the Russian Mir Space Station and nine Shuttle-Mir docking missions. The first set of permanent crews arrived to the ISS in 2000, and while construction is expected to continue until 2006, the international space station is already serving its purpose as a research laboratory for experiments conducted within a pressurized environment as well as outside in space.
APOLLO 11 SPACECRAFT
The Apollo 11 mission conducted by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins that culminated in man's first moon walk in July 1969 had a three-part spacecraft: the command module Columbia, the service module, and the lunar module Eagle. It was the Columbia that served as living quarters and control center for the crew, while the service module contained such essentials as oxygen and water. Armstrong and Aldrin used the lunar module to descend to the moon's surface. The command module Columbia is the only part of the spacecraft to return to Earth, and it resides today at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.
SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER
Better, faster, cheaper. Those were the goals when, in the 1970s, NASA entertained thoughts of a winged, reusable spacecraft. Columbia, which launched in 1979, was the first shuttle in NASA's fleet, which would later include Challenger, Discovery, and Endeavor. The shuttle Columbia ran four orbital test missions from 1981-82 before beginning operational missions in November 1982. Like spacecraft that came before them, shuttles are launched vertically, but they return to Earth horizontally on a landing strip not unlike an ordinary plane. Missions over the years have concentrated on deploying and retrieving satellites, as well as assembly of the International Space Station. Two of NASA's shuttles have suffered the most tragic of endings, the explosion of Challenger shortly after takeoff in January 1986 and the break-up of Columbia over Texas almost 17 years later.
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