I worked him back in the old days on 20 SSB and got a QSL from him with picture of him in his space suit Bryan W5KFT
Lotsa QSL cards from the Soviet era have a pic of YG in a spacesuit on them. Perhaps they were supplied for free, like the ones from Pontiac Motor Co. in the USA! I got my most recent one direct from space via SSTV though, 73 de John - WØPV
The obvious--the error was made stating that the Soviets sent a chimp. We (USA) sent the chimp, and its name was HAM. The Soviets sent a dog, named LAIKA. OK? Ignorance is NOT strength, despite what Eric Blair opined...
An additional but (in this case) factual piece of inportant trivia-- Gagarin did not land in his capsule. The capsule was not able to land with a dull thud, and thus would kill the cosmonaut. Gagarin parachuted down , abandoning the capsule in the troposphere. You probably didn't know this....
I never thought I would see the day that the (launch capable) US Space Program would be so messed up that we bum rides up and down with the Russians. Most people are not aware that there are TWO countries that can and do send men and women into space: Russia, and PRC. NOT USA..... we are in the same place we were in 1960....and have been that way for several years now. Shame!! Shame shame shame!!
Worse, even the favorite vendor of the USA government (military) for non-human heavy lift Atlas V launch vehicles is critically dependent on first stage boosters that use non-American made RD-180 engines! WTH? Quite a bizarre political funding football that doesn't get enough mainstream media attention. Here's hoping that capitalist entrepreneurial disruptive new ventures like those of Musk, Bezos, etc, keep up their good work and get a fair shot at that business soon! 73 de John - WØPV
Right you are John-- John is referring to the fact that (for the unmanned US flights) we use engines --superior ones--OF RUSSIAN design, some 30 years old... 73 Chip W1YW
BTW, Gagarin's death was tragic-- A jet accident that plowed into the forest and left no obvious parts, crashing at hundreds of miles an hour to make a crater almost 20 feet deep, with total disintegration. Sad day for all people....
Supposably that disqualifies him being the first in space per FAI (or whatever intl body) rules. At the time USSR didn't disclose this and the launch site was not exactly stated where it really was (though US military knew as they flew over it in U2s two or three years before). But whatever, Yuri's the first guy in space (well unless you consider Kittenger, X15 pilots, etc.).
There is no doubt Yuri G. (RIP) had a huge amount of The Right Stuff, as did the X-15 jockeys. But that was the ideological driven governmental run "Space Race". Although as an American its embarrassing to see our public space infrastructure fall so far behind, it's exhilarating to watch the private sector sprinting to catch up, fill the void, and hopefully surpass them all. So for my investment, the "New Era Gagarin" is now the undersung Mike Melvill. Who? The South African born naturalized American non-military private pilot who was the first COMMERCIAL astronaut. Daring to test Burt Rutan's drag inducing "wing feathering" innovation, who many scoffed at, winning the Ansari X Prize. Think that was easy? Watch as with nerves of titanium he calmly deals with a potential "death roll" on the first flight ascent ... 73 de John - WØPV
I want to add there is a strong common thread of science curiosity, out-of-box technology innovation, and "just do it" adventurism between amateur radio and experimental aviation. Dick Rutan, Burt's bro, and his co-pilot Jeana Yeager (no relation to Chuck), famous for their record setting first non-stop non-refueled global circumnavigation flight, were both FCC Tech's. Many radio hams are also licensed pilots or involved in the art of flight in other ways.
