Yuri Gagarin PDF Download

Author: Heather Feldman
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group
ISBN: 0823962458
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Book Description
Describes the 1961 flight of Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, as well as the scientific background to that flight and space exploration since then.

Author: James R. Hansen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476727813
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 755

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Book Description
On July 20, 1969, the world stood still to watch American astronaut Neil A. Armstrong become the first person ever to step on the surface of another heavenly body. Upon his return to Earth, Armstrong was celebrated for his monumental achievement. He was also--as NASA historian Hansen reveals in this authorized biography--misunderstood. Armstrong's accomplishments as an engineer, a test pilot, and an astronaut have long been a matter of record, but Hansen's access to private documents and unpublished sources and his interviews with more than 125 subjects (including more than fifty hours with Armstrong himself) yield the first in-depth analysis of this elusive, reluctant hero.

Author: Piers Bizony
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0802779611
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first person in history to leave the Earth's atmosphere and venture into space. His flight aboard a Russian Vostok rocket lasted only 108 minutes, but at the end of it he had become the most famous man in the world. Back on the ground, his smiling face captured the hearts of millions around the globe. Film stars, politicians and pop stars from Europe to Japan, India to the United States vied with each other to shake his hand. Despite this immense fame, almost nothing is known about Gagarin or the exceptional people behind his dramatic space flight. Starman tells for the first time Gagarin's personal odyssey from peasant to international icon, his subsequent decline as his personal life began to disintegrate under the pressures of fame, and his final disillusionment with the Russian state. President Kennedy's quest to put an American on the Moon was a direct reaction to Gagarin's achievement--yet before that successful moonshot occurred, Gagarin himself was dead, aged just thirty-four, killed in a mysterious air crash. Publicly the Soviet hierarchy mourned; privately their sighs of relief were almost audible, and the KGB report into his death remains secret. Entwined with Gagarin's history is that of the breathtaking and highly secretive Russian space program - its technological daring, its triumphs and disasters. In a gripping account, Jamie Doran and Piers Bizony reveal the astonishing world behind the scenes of the first great space spectacular, and how Gagarin's flight came frighteningly close to destruction.

Author: Andrew L. Jenks
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
ISBN: 1501757687
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
"Let's go!" With that, the boyish, grinning Yuri Gagarin launched into space on April 12, 1961, becoming the first human being to exit Earth's orbit. The twenty-seven-year-old lieutenant colonel departed for the stars from within the shadowy world of the Soviet military-industrial complex. Barbed wires, no-entry placards, armed guards, false identities, mendacious maps, and a myriad of secret signs had hidden Gagarin from prying outsiders—not even his friends or family knew what he had been up to. Coming less than four years after the Russians launched Sputnik into orbit, Gagarin's voyage was cause for another round of capitalist shock and Soviet rejoicing. The Cosmonaut Who Couldn't Stop Smiling relates this twentieth-century icon's remarkable life while exploring the fascinating world of Soviet culture. Gagarin's flight brought him massive international fame—in the early 1960s, he was possibly the most photographed person in the world, flashing his trademark smile while rubbing elbows with the varied likes of Nehru, Castro, Queen Elizabeth II, and Italian sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida. Outside of the spotlight, Andrew L. Jenks reveals, his tragic and mysterious death in a jet crash became fodder for morality tales and conspiracy theories in his home country, and, long after his demise, his life continues to provide grist for the Russian popular-culture mill. This is the story of a legend, both the official one and the one of myth, which reflected the fantasies, perversions, hopes and dreams of Gagarin's fellow Russians. With this rich, lively chronicle of Gagarin's life and times, Jenks recreates the elaborately secretive world of space-age Russia while providing insights into Soviet history that will captivate a range of readers.

Author: Michael D. Cole
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780894905414
Category : Astronauts
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Yuri Gagarin, hero of the Soviet Union and first person in space, took the first big steps that led to the era of manned spaceflight. Details of the historic flight of Vostok 1 are discussed through his eyes, including his exciting first view of Earth and the stars from space.

Author: James R. Hansen
Publisher: Purdue University Press
ISBN: 1612496032
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 467

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Book Description
In the years between the historic first moon landing by Apollo 11 on July 20, 1969, and his death at age 82 on August 25, 2012, Neil Armstrong received hundreds of thousands of cards and letters from all over the world, congratulating him, praising him, requesting pictures and autographs, and asking him what must have seemed to him to be limitless—and occasionally intrusive—questions. Of course, all the famous astronauts received fan mail, but the sheer volume Armstrong had to deal with for more than four decades after his moon landing was staggering. Today, the preponderance of those letters—some 75,000 of them—are preserved in the archives at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Dear Neil Armstrong: Letters to the First Man on the Moon publishes a careful sampling of these letters—roughly 400—reflecting the various kinds of correspondence that Armstrong received along with representative samples of his replies. Selected and edited by James R. Hansen, Armstrong’s authorized biographer and author of the New York Times best seller First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong, this collection sheds light on Armstrong’s enduring impact and offers an intimate glimpse into the cultural meanings of human spaceflight. Readers will explore what the thousands of letters to Neil Armstrong meant not only to those who wrote them, but as a snapshot of one of humankind’s greatest achievements in the twentieth century. They will see how societies and cultures projected their own meanings onto one of the world’s great heroes and iconic figures.

Author: Candy Wellins
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593118049
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
A lyrical picture book biography of Edward White, the first American to walk in space--and an ode to the beauty and wonder of the stars that brought him there. Edward White loved the night, lived where stars were big and bright. The evening sky-- so wide, so high. Made him wonder. Made him sigh. Edward White was the first American astronaut to walk in space. But before his spacewalk, he was just a boy who loved the stars. As he grew up, he would look up at the night sky in wonder--he knew that, one day, he would visit the stars themselves. In this touching and poignant picture book biography, we see how Edward's passion for the stars shaped the course of his life, and how he came to realize, even in the depths of space, what was ultimately most important to him--his family. With backmatter containing photos and more information on Edward's life, Candy Wellins and Courtney Dawson deliver a book that is as much a feast for readers' eyes as the stars were for Edward's. Praise for The Stars Beckoned: "The right stuff for children with the stars in their eyes." --Kirkus Reviews "An introduction to a space pioneer that’s ideal for the youngest nonfiction readers." --Publishers Weekly

Author: Steven J. Dick
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781470024758
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 776

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Book Description
Fifty years after the founding of NASA, from 28 to 29 October 2008, the NASA History Division convened a conference whose purpose was a scholarly analysis of NASA's first 50 years. Over two days at NASA Headquarters, historians and policy analysts discussed NASA's role in aeronautics, human spaceflight, exploration, space science, life science, and Earth science, as well as crosscutting themes ranging from space access to international relations in space and NASA's interaction with the public. The speakers were asked to keep in mind the following questions: What are the lessons learned from the first 50 years? What is NASA's role in American culture and in the history of exploration and discovery? What if there had never been a NASA? Based on the past, does NASA have a future? The results of those papers, elaborated and fully referenced, are found in this 50th anniversary volume. The reader will find here, instantiated in the complex institution that is NASA, echoes of perennial themes elaborated in an earlier volume, Critical Issues in the History of Spaceflight. The conference culminated a year of celebrations, beginning with an October 2007 conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Space Age and including a lecture series, future forums, publications, a large presence at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and numerous activities at NASA's 10 Centers and venues around the country. It took place as the Apollo 40th anniversaries began, ironically still the most famous of NASA's achievements, even in the era of the Space Shuttle, International Space Station (ISS), and spacecraft like the Mars Exploration Rovers (MERs) and the Hubble Space Telescope. And it took place as NASA found itself at a major crossroads, for the first time in three decades transitioning, under Administrator Michael Griffin, from the Space Shuttle to a new Ares launch vehicle and Orion crew vehicle capable of returning humans to the Moon and proceeding to Mars in a program known as Constellation. The Space Shuttle, NASA's launch system since 1981, was scheduled to wind down in 2010, freeing up funds for the new Ares launch vehicle. But the latter, even if it moved forward at all deliberate speed, would not be ready until 2015, leaving the unsettling possibility that for at least five years the United States would be forced to use the Russian Soyuz launch vehicle and spacecraft as the sole access to the ISS in which the United States was the major partner. The presidential elections a week after the conference presaged an imminent presidential transition, from the Republican administration of George W. Bush to (as it turned out) the Democratic presidency of Barack Obama, with all the uncertainties that such transitions imply for government programs. The uncertainties for NASA were even greater, as Michael Griffin departed with the outgoing administration and as the world found itself in an unprecedented global economic downturn, with the benefits of national space programs questioned more than ever before. There was no doubt that 50 years of the Space Age had altered humanity in numerous ways ranging from applications satellites to philosophical world views. Throughout its 50 years, NASA has been fortunate to have a strong sense of history and a robust, independent, and objective history program to document its achievements and analyze its activities. Among its flagship publications are Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, of which seven of eight projected volumes were completed at the time of the 50th anniversary. The reader can do no better than to turn to these volumes for an introduction to NASA history as seen through its primary documents. The list of NASA publications at the end of this volume is also a testimony to the tremendous amount of historical research that the NASA History Division has sponsored over the last 50 years, of which this is the latest volume.

Author: Yuri Gagarin
Publisher: The Minerva Group, Inc.
ISBN: 0898754607
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 115

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Book Description
The first manned space flight in history was accomplished on April 12, 1961, when the Soviet spaceship Vostok (East) orbited the earth and made a safe landing. The first man in space was 27 year old Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. After successful launching in the multi-stage space rocket the satellite ship, having attained orbital velocity and separated from the last stage of the carrier-rocket, had begun free orbital flight round the earth. According to preliminary data, orbital period of the spaceship is 89.1 minutes; it minimum distance form the earth's surface (perigee) is 175 kilometers and its maximum(apogee), 302 kilometers; the orbit is inclined to the equator at 65°4'. Together with its pilot, the spaceship weighs 4,725 kilograms excluding the weight of the last stage of the launching rocket. Two-way radio communication has been established, and is being maintained, with the spaceman, Major Gagarin. The ship's short-wave transmitters are operating on 9.019 megacycles and 20.006 megacycles, and on 143.625 megacycles in the ultra short -wave band. The condition of the space pilot during flight is being observed by means of radio telemetering and television systems. Major Gagarin, the space pilot, withstood the period of acceleration satisfactorily and at present feels quite well. The systems enduring the necessary life conditions in the cabin of the spaceship are functioning normally. The flight of the Vostok with Major Gagarin on board continues...

Author: Ted Spitzmiller
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813059704
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 693

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Book Description
Military Writers Society of America Awards, Gold Medal for History Highlighting men and women across the globe who have dedicated themselves to pushing the limits of space exploration, this book surveys the programs, technological advancements, medical equipment, and automated systems that have made space travel possible. Beginning with the invention of balloons that lifted early explorers into the stratosphere, Ted Spitzmiller describes how humans first came to employ lifting gasses such as hydrogen and helium. He traces the influence of science fiction writers on the development of rocket science, looks at the role of rocket societies in the early twentieth century, and discusses the use of rockets in World War II warfare. Spitzmiller considers the engineering and space medicine advances that finally enabled humans to fly beyond the earth's atmosphere during the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. He recreates the excitement felt around the world as Yuri Gagarin and John Glenn completed their first orbital flights. He recounts triumphs and tragedies, such as Neil Armstrong's "one small step" and the Challenger and Columbia disasters. The story continues with the development of the International Space Station, NASA's interest in asteroids and Mars, and the emergence of China as a major player in the space arena. Spitzmiller shows the impact of space flight on human history and speculates on the future of exploration beyond our current understandings of physics and the known boundaries of time and space.