APOD 4.3

50 Years Ago: Yuri's Planet (2011 April 12)ass

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. Gagarin was a military pilot and he was chosen for the first group of cosmonauts in 1960. In the Volstok 1 spacecraft, he was carried to an altitude of 200 miles and carried him once around the planet. His orbital flight lasted 108 minutes. About a month later, Alan Shepard would be the first US astronaut in space. His flight made him a hero throughout the world and a legend. In Gagarin's flight, he described that "The sky was very dark; the Earth is bluish. Everything is seen very clearly." This picture is what he would have most likely saw. This picture was taken from the ISS in 2003. He was killed in 1968 when his MIG jet crashed during a training flight. He had a hero's funeral and his ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall. 20 years later on April 12, NASA launched the first space shuttle. This was interesting to read because it gave me a sense of how important his flight was. Everyone knew his name and admired him. And this picture does fit the description he gave. I also noticed that there can be a blue haze seen around Earth where the sky is. I actually never noticed that before.