Ops-Normal.org

Boac wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:22 pm

Do we know the 'escape' mechanism used on the mission? Described as 'ejected him' from the capsule at 23,000ft

On the way back, everything looked good until the conclusion of the 40-second burn of the braking engine, initiated successfully at 10:25 Moscow Time. The spacecraft started spinning about its axis with very high speed. For decades, the very fact, not to mention the cause of the whole incident with the separation of the capsule and its instrument module remained unknown to the general public. Even half a century later, popular accounts of the accident are wildly inaccurate.

Undried Plum wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:24 pm

We know a song about him, don't we boys and girls:

Boac wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:39 pm

Other sources say that during re-entry the capsule did not separate cleanly from the service module but remained attached by 'cables', causing the gyrations until they broke later. Some ride!

As G-forces subsided and the capsule continued descending safely, Gagarin prepared to eject from his craft. At an altitude of seven kilometers, the main hatch of the capsule was jettisoned and seconds later, the pilot ejected. It was 10:42 Moscow Time. Gagarin's ejection seat then came lose gently and he was left falling toward earth. The main parachute of the PS-6415-59 system deployed successfully, however the backup chute came out later as well and, after some delay, deployed. As a result, Gagarin was descending under two parachutes. During the parachute descent, which lasted from six to 10 minutes, Gagarin struggled to open a valve for breathing atmospheric air. The device stuck below his external orange layer and he had to use a mirror to pull the valve.

According to Gagarin, he gently hit the soft surface of freshly plowed dirt in an open field not far from the town of Engels. Later, his landing was determined to be not far from the village of Smelovka, in the Ternovsky District near Saratov. Many sources say Gagarin landed at 10:55 Moscow Time (228) but, according to post-flight report dated May 29, 1961, and published in 2011, the the descent module landed at 10:48 and the pilot at 10:53 Moscow Time. They were 1.5 kilometers apart.

Undried Plum wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 12:38 pm

MiLady and I were there, right there, on that very special Hogmanay when he played that tune.



It's one of those things where you can say 'you had to be there, man'

Happy memory!

Gosh!! Was that countdown 21 years ago?

I think that I ought to feel as old as I am, but I don't.