The Journey of Flight.pdf - Valkyrie Cadet

elevons are located along the wings’ trailing edges and function as either elevators or ailerons, according
to how they are moved.
Payloads
The shuttle can carry a variety of payloads into space. At one time, it was thought satellites could
be deployed from the shuttle more efficiently than from expendable launch vehicles. The shear number
of new satellites being launched all the time makes that impossible. Most shuttle missions are
geared toward those that need onboard specialists. Two notable ones are the Spacelab and Long-
Duration Exposure Facility missions.
Soviet Manned Space Program
The Soviet Union’s space flight programs developed along the same lines as the American
programs and occurred at approximately the same times. However, the Soviets had several firsts in the
space race.
Vostok
As mentioned earlier, the Soviets launched the first satellite into space. After Sputnik, the Soviets
launched nine more Sputniks in about 31/2 years. The last two were accomplished in preparation for
their first manned space flight.
With the initial advantage of having large rockets, the Soviets put the first man in space on
April 12, 1961. Major Yuri Gagarin, aboard
Vostok 1, was the first man to escape from
Earth’s atmosphere into space. Although he only
stayed up for one orbit (108 minutes), he described
sights no human eyes had ever seen before.
In June 1963, Vostok 6 had the distinction
of carrying Valentina Tereshkova, the first
woman, into space. She completed 48 orbits
and was in space for 3 days before returning
safely to Earth. This was the last Vostok flight.
Voskhod
The success of Vostok led to the Voskhod
series. The first Voskhod was launched in October
of 1964, and was a three-man capsule. Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union is the first human in space.
594