In 2011, we celebrate four major anniversaries in the era of human space flight:
- Fifty years ago, on April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union's Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, orbiting the Earth in the Vostok 1 spaceship for one hour and 48 minutes.
- On May 5, 1961 , the United States followed suit, launching Alan Shepard into a 15 minute suborbital flight aboard the Freedom 7.
- On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy committed the United States to landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
- Twenty years later, on April 12, 1981, John W. Young and Robert L. Crippen piloted Columbia on the first space shuttle mission.
This Earth Current special reviews these milestones and provides resources on the history of humans in space.
Vostok 1 | Freedom 7 | Kennedy Speech | Columbia | Human Space Flight Overview | U.S. Programs
Russian Programs | Chinese Programs | International Space Station | SpaceShipOne | Future of Spaceflight
50th Anniversary of Vostok 1 Launch (April 12, 1961)
Current News
What Yuri Gagarin Saw on First Space Flight (National Geographic News, Apr. 12)
Gagarin Revisited (New York Times, Apr. 12)
Space leaders, crew mark Gagarin anniversary (CNET, Apr. 12)
'The main thing is that there is sausage': Yuri Gagarin's extraordinary last words before making history with first manned space flight 50 years ago today (Mail Online, Apr. 12)
London statue to celebrate Gagarin (BBC News, Apr. 5)
'Yuri Gagarin' blasts off to ISS (Register, Apr. 5)
It's a golden year in space history (MSNBC, Apr. 4)
Why the world still remembers its first spaceman (MSNBC, Apr. 4)
Soviet Union lied about 1961 Yuri Gagarin space mission (Telegraph, Mar. 30)
Beginning Of Era Of Manned Spaceflight (Space Travel/SPX, Mar. 25)
Movie Shot From Space Celebrates 50 Years Since Gagarin's Orbit (Time, Mar. 24)
Google News search
Resources
Vostok 1 - The First Manned Space Flight (BBC)
Vostok 1 (Encyclopedia Astronautica)
Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space (NASA)
Translations of contemporary Russian radio and press reports (NASA)
Vostok: Dawn of Human Space Flight (Russian Space Web)
Multimedia
Archival Gagarin video (NASA)
Yuri Gagarin: First Human Space Flight in Pictures (National Geographic)
Yuri Gagarin, First Man in Space (Space.com)
Yuri Gagarin: His Life in Pictures (Russian Archives Online)
50th Anniversary of Freedom 7 Launch (May 5, 1961)
Resources
Mercury MR-3 (Encyclopedia Astronautica)
Alan B. Shepard, Jr. (NASA)
Freedom 7 MR-3 (18) (NASA)
Mercury Redstone 3 (NASA)
Mercury-Redstone 3-Freedom 7 press kit (NASA)
Mission: Freedom 7 (NASA)
Proceedings of a Conference on Results of the First U.S. Manned Suborbital Space Flight (NASA)
Who Was Alan Shepard? (NASA)
Multimedia
Freedom 7 50th Anniversary Facebook page
Mercury-Redstone 3 (Apollo Explorer)
Freedom 7 video (NASA)
MR3 images (NASA)
Freedom 7 Wallpaper (National Geographic)
50th Anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's Speech Urging Moon Landing (May 25, 1961)
Resources
Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs, May 25, 1961 (JFK Presidential Library & Museum)
JFK in History: The Space Program (JFK Presidential Library & Museum)
The Decision to Go to the Moon (NASA)
Multimedia
Audio of address (JFK Presidential Library & Museum)
Video of address (World News Network)
30th Anniversary of First Space Shuttle Launch (April 12, 1981)
Current News
Space Shuttle's 1st Pilot: Q&A With Former NASA Astronaut Bob Crippen (Space.com, Apr. 12)
NASA announces new homes for retiring space shuttles (CNN, Apr. 12)
Astronauts Celebrate Space Shuttle's 30th Anniversary (ABC News, Apr. 12)
The Space Shuttle's final countdown (Telegraph, Apr. 11)
Memories of the space shuttle's launch debut (USA Today, Apr. 11)
Google News search
Resources
STS-1 (Encyclopedia Astronautica)
The Boldest Test Flight in History (NASA)
Columbia (OV-102) (NASA)
The Flight of STS-1 (NASA)
Mission Archives: STS-1 (NASA)
STS-1 Crew and the 'Infinitely Smarter' Flight (NASA)
Space Shuttle's 1st Pilot: Q&A With Former NASA Astronaut Bob Crippen (Space.com)
Multimedia
30 Years Of Space Shuttle Missions (ABC News)
Nasa shuttle: 30 years since first flight (BBC News)
STS-1 Crew Commander John Young and Pilot Robert Crippen share their experiences (NASA)
A New Era: The Space Shuttle (NASA)
STS-001 image directory (NASA)
Space Shuttle Columbia wallpaper (National Geographic)
Photos: NASA's First Space Shuttle Flight: STS-1 (Space.com)
Space Shuttle's Maiden Launch and Landing (Space.com)
Human Space Flight: General/Overview
NASA Human Space Flight
Air & Space: Space Exploration (Smithsonian)
Encyclopedia Astronautica
50 Years of Humans in Space (European Space Agency)
Gagarin's Great Feat: 50 Space-Race Highs and Lows (Time)
Human Spaceflight & Exploration (European Space Agency)
National Air & Space Museum (Smithsonian)
RussianSpaceWeb.com
Space Exploration Time Line (National Geographic)
Space Race: The Untold Story (National Geographic Channel)
Major U.S. Missions/Programs
Mercury
Program Overview (NASA)
Project Mercury: A Chronology (NASA)
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Mercury
National Geographic Index search
Gemini
Program Overview (NASA)
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Gemini
National Geographic Index search
Apollo
Program Overview (NASA)
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Apollo
Apollo-Soyuz Program Overview (NASA)
Earth Current: Apollo 11 40th Anniversary
National Geographic Index search
Skylab
Program Overview (NASA)
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Skylab
National Geographic Index search
Space Shuttle
Program Overview (NASA)
History of Shuttle-Mir (NASA)
The Shuttle (NASA)
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Shuttle
Space Shuttle Mission Chronology: 1981-1999 (NASA)
Space Shuttle Program (National Geographic)
Space Shuttle Timeline (MSNBC)
National Geographic Index search
Major Soviet/Russian Missions/Programs
Vostok
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Vostok
Russian Space Web: Russia's Early Manned Space Flight Projects
Voskhod
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Voskhod
Russian Space Web: Russia's Early Manned Space Flight Projects
Soyuz
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Soyuz
Russian Space Web: Soyuz Spacecraft
Mir
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Mir
Russian Space Web: Mir Space Station
Chinese Programs
Chinese National Space Administration
Encyclopedia Astronautica: Shenzhou
China Targets More Space Program Firsts (Space.com)
International Space Station
International Space Station History (NASA)
National Geographic Index search
Russian Space Web: International Space Station
SpaceShipOne
The first privately built manned spacecraft; launched in 2004
SpaceShipOne (Encyclopedia Astronautica)
SpaceShipOne Wins X-Prize (NASA)
Flying High—Private Space Flight (National Geographic)
SpaceShipOne Burns Rubber, Laughing Gas—More Fun Facts (National Geographic)
SpaceShipOne, Rocket for the Rest of Us, Multimedia (National Geographic)
SpaceShipOne, Rocket for the Rest of Us, Photo Gallery (National Geographic)
5 Years After SpaceShipOne: Commercial Spaceflight Ready for 'Go' (Space.com)
Future of Human Spaceflight
NASA's Future Missions
Whither Human Spaceflight at the Start of the Second Decade of the 21st Century? (Smithsonian)
Is Manned Spaceflight Obsolete? (New York Times, Feb. 9, 2010)
8 Experts Weigh in on the Future of Human Spaceflight (Popular Mechanics, Oct. 11, 2009)
NASA Ponders Future Of Manned Spaceflight (Space Travel/SPX, Aug. 17, 2009)
Photo credits: Gagarin by SOVFOTO; all others from NASA.
