Vostok 1

Launch, orbit & landing data: Designation  00103 / 1961 Mu1 / 61012A Launch date - time  12 Apr 1961 - 06:07:00 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC1 Launch vehicle  Vostok 8K72K (s/n E103-16) Payload  Vostok 3KA n° 3 Basic shape  Sphere-cylinder Dimension (m)  4.3 long - 2.4 dia Mass (kg)  4725 kg Flight crew  Gagarin, Yuri A. (CDR) Call Sign  Kedr (Cedar) Backup crew  Titov, G.  Nelyubov Earth orbit on Apr 12.3, 1961:    - Perigee / Apogee  169 x 315 km    - Eccentricity  0.011    - Inclination  64,95°    - Period  89.34 min Landing date - time  12 Apr 1961 - 07:55:00 UT Landing location  51° N, 46° E. 26 km southwest of village Smelovka Flight duration (d:hr:min)  0:01:48 Nbr orbits 1 Distance (km) 41 thousand

Mission details:

• 01 Jan 1958: Work begins in the Soviet Union on designing the vehicle which will become the piloted Vostok (3KA) and Voskhod (3KV & 3KD) spacecraft, and the recoverable Zenit (2K) photo-reconnaissance satellite.
  
  
  
• In order to prevent the pilot from messing it up, Gagarin's controls were locked to prevent him from taking control of ship. A key was available in a sealed envelope in case it became necessary to take control in an emergency. After retrofire, the service module remained attached to the Sharik reentry sphere by a wire bundle. The joined craft went through wild gyrations at the beginning of reentry, before the wires burned through. The Sharik, as it was designed to do, then naturally reached aerodynamic equilibrium with the reentry shield positioned correctly.
  
  

  Gagarin with Korolev before flight.

  Gagarin before launch

  
  
  
• On 1961 Apr 12 the spacecraft Vostok-3A No. 3 was launched from the 5 NIIP test range carrying pilot-astronaut of the Soviet Union, Major of the Soviet Military Air Forces Yuriy Alexeevich Gagarin. At around 0613 UTC the 8K72K launch vehicle passed the 80 km point (the boundary of space) and at 0618 UTC the Blok-E third stage shut down and separated leaving the Vostok spaceship in orbit. After one orbit, the spaceship landed near Saratov at 0747 UTC.
• When Vostok 1 reached an altitude of 6096 m, Gagarin was ejected (at around 0743 UTC) with a catapult seat as planned, and landed seperate from the capsule using a parachute. However for many years the Soviet Union denied this, because the flight would not have been recognized for various FAI world records unless the pilot had accompanied his craft to a landing. Landed Southwest of Smelovka, Saratov region.

Gagarin during flight. Vostok 1 capsule after landing - Credit: RKK Energia.

Korolev during Vostok 1 flight. - Credit: RKK Energia. Yury Gagarin hit the headlines around the world after his historic feat, in this case The Huntsville Times in the United States

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Timisoara (Romana), registered mail

Signed by Gagarin