“POYEKHALI!” (Поехали! in Russian), meaning “Off we go!” or “Let’s go!” became a popular expression in the World after 12 April, 1961. The informal phrase was used by Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a Russian pilot and a cosmonaut, at the moment of rocket launch as his capsule, Vostok 1, lifted off from Tyuratam test range in Kazakhstan (now the Baikonur Cosmodrome) in the Soviet Union by then.

The 27-years-old USSR citizen, Flight Major Gagarin. successfully completed one orbit of Earth aboard Vostok 1 spacecraft. Gagarin ejected before landing, parachuting down safely near the Volga River in southwest Russia.

Upon his return. Gagarin, the first man to see Earth from space received a hero welcome in Moscow. Monuments were erected to honour his achievement, streets were named after him in many Soviet cities. Gzhatsk, the town where he spent much of his childhood, was also renamed Gagarin. He was awarded the status of Hero of the Soviet Union.

The historic 108-minute flight was an electrifying moment not only for the Soviet Union4 but also to the entire world. Gagarin became the first human to journey into outer space, making the USSR achieve a major milestone in the space race. His expression “Poyekhali!” was later famously used in the USSR to refer to the beginning of the Space Age.

The Americans, who had been working on its own capability to launch a satellite, were stunned by the achievement made by the Soviet Union. It is important, therefore, to briefly understand how the Space race started and went on.

Historically, the space race intensified during the Cold War Era. For years, the two superpowers had been locked into political hostilities, each one striving to build and strengthen military capabilities, particularly in developing intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capable of carrying nuclear warheads across continents.

While the Americans relied largely on German rocket engineers who had once developed ballistic missiles for Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union had its own capabilities, thanks to rocket builder and chief scientist for the USSR's space program. Sergei Korolev, who had developed the first ICBM, a rocket called the R7, which enabled his country to begin the space race.

With the launch of Sputnik, carried atop an R7 rocket, on October 4, 1957, the USSR beat the US in the race and launched the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. A month later, on November 3, 1957, the Soviets demonstrated that living creatures can survive a rocket launch into outer space. With Sputnik II, a dog, named “Laika”, orbits the Earth.

Prior to the launch of Sputnik I, which orbited Earth once every 96 minutes after reaching space, the United States made two failed attempts to launch a satellite into space before succeeding with a rocket that carried a satellite called Explorer on January 31, 1958.

Gagarin’s triumph on 12 April, 1961 was a painful blow to the United States, which had scheduled its first space flight for May 1961. His trip into space preceded the American launch by over three weeks.

With the two superpowers engaging in a race to develop space-era technology during the Cold War, it was evident that the USSR had the capabilities that exceeded that of the US technologies by then.

After Gagarin’s successful voyage Gherman Titov became the second Soviet citizen to make it into space in August 1961, making 17 orbits of Earth over 25 hours in Vostok 2. It was not until February 1962, when American astronaut John Glenn made three orbits in Friendship 7.

Despite more inadequate resources, the Soviet Union maintained a very highly advanced space program, staying ahead of the US in the race. A brief account of the historic events would help to put things into perspective.

Launched by the Soviet Union on January 2, 1959, Luna 1, also known as the “First Cosmic Rocket,” became the first spacecraft to leave geocentric orbit and enter heliocentric orbit. In addition. Luna 1 provided the first ever direct observations and measurements of solar winds.

On October 7, 1959, Soviet space probe “Luna-3” took the first pictures of the never-before-seen far side of the Moon. Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova blasts off into Earth orbit aboard “Vostok 6” on June 16,1963 on a three-day space mission becoming the first woman in outer space.

On March 18, 1965 a Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed the first ever “spacewalk”. Leonov spends twelve minutes in the harsh vacuum of space before joining his crew- mate Pavel Belyayev in the “Voskhod 2” spacecraft.

On 16 January 1969, the Soviet Union’s Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 docked, exchanged

two crew members and formed what was termed ‘’the world’s first space station”. It was the first- ever docking of two manned spacecraft of any nation, and the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another of any nation.

The first space station, Salut 1 (DOS-1) was launched on April 19, 1971 by the Soviet Union. It hosted cosmonauts Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev from 6 to 29 June 1971.

Indeed, Soviet Union’s (and later Russia) contributions towards space science and technology can never be underestimated. The heritage that Gagarin granted the world remains a powerful one today.

Gagarin died in 1968 at the age of 34. but his legacy still lives on. He inspired many young people to follow careers in science and engineering - and to become cosmonauts.

The Russian cosmonaut rose from a lower class family to become a national hero and an international celebrity, touring around the world. Born in 1934 in Klushino, Smolensk, about 160km west of Moscow, the son of a carpenter demon-strated1 to the young generation that with determination everything is possible under the Sun. Regardless of one’s family’s social status, the youth can achieve their dreams.

His historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity. Since then, the World has been exploring and probing the solar system, making hundreds of discoveries which are important to mankind.

When space issues are concerned, the era of technological might and ideological superiority seem to be over. The Outer Space Treaty (OST). which entered into force on October 10, 1967, has served as a foundation of international space law since the second decade of the Space Age.

Despite the fact that political tensions still exist. Moscow and Washington have been cooperating closely in space programs, in staffing and maintaining the International Space Station, with Russian modules transporting US astronauts into orbit.

The first American-Russian cooperation in space flight occurred on July 15, 1975, bringing together two former spaceflight rivals for the first nine-day international space mission “Apollo Soyuz Test Project”.

On April 4, 2011, Russia launched one spacefliers aboard a Soyuz TMA-21 spacecraft christened “Gagarin” to honour the cosmonaut and his historic flight. The expedition was organised to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the mission. The Soyuz Gagarin carried two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut to the international space station.

In 2011 the UN General Assembly declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the be-ginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

The UN General Assembly expressed its deep conviction of the common interest of mankind in promoting and expanding the exploration and use of outer space, as the province of all mankind, for peaceful purposes and in continuing efforts to extend to all States the benefits derived there from.

Africa has not lagged behind in exploring space technology. Earth observation by satellites helps African countries to collect data on areas of importance to economy and well-being such as agriculture and natural resources. Nigeria has used its satellites to monitor the oil-rich Niger Delta. In early 2015, the Kondor-E satellite built for South Africa in Russia was launched into orbit, providing all- weather as well as day-and- night radar imagery for the South African military.

In 2016, the African Space Agency was established by the African Union. Also the first half of the African Space Strategy, adopted by the African Union (AU) in 2016, lays out the ways in which African countries could benefit from space science and technologies. Several African countries have ambitions to launch their first satellites while some have already had their satellites in orbit.

The first cosmonaut’s remarkable accomplishment, 60 years ago this month, still prevails around the globe. As we celebrate the anniversary of the first man

in space, the milestone the world has achieved speaks a volume, especially on the contribution that space science and technology has brought to humanity, ranging from telecommunication to agriculture.

After the historic event of April 12, 1961, man’s dream to explore outer space became the reality. A series of space probes have been launched with scientists studying the Earth, Moon, Venus, Mars and Mercury. Unmanned probes have also been sent to study the solar system, making a wide range of discoveries of greater importance to mankind. The International Space Station has now become a crucial part of human endeavor as countries take part in conducting research.

Without Gagarin’s spur, man might have never thought of space tourism. US millionaire Dennis Tito was the first among space enthusiasts to try it out in 2001. Thanks to Gagarin, the Russian citizen who changed the world. “Poyekhali!”.

Daily News

Tuesday, April 13, 2021