"When I orbited the Earth in a spaceship, I saw for the first time how beautiful our planet is. Mankind, let us preserve and increase this beauty, and not destroy it!" – Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin in a spacesuit, photo by Eight years before man had the courage to step foot on the moon (see also Man on the Moon article), he first had to traverse our Mother planet. It was Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, who successfully orbited the Earth in 1961. He also known as The Columbus of the Cosmos.
image via nasa.gov
Today marks the 50th year since Gagarin, then 28 years young, made the historical spaceflight which shaped human spatial adventures. He blasted off in the Vostok 1, a 5-ton spacecraft and reached almost 200 miles above the Earth’s surface.
the Vostok 1 rocket, photo by After his triumphant launch to space, Yuri toured abroad and promoted the Soviet Union as the first nation to send a man into space. He became an international celebrity and he continued his occupation as a pilot. Tragically, he passed away in an airplane crash at the young age of 38, leaving behind a legacy which molds human spaceflight to date.
a Yuri Gagarin postcard, via dannypurple
“I see Earth! It is so beautiful!”
Photo by escudero
As human beings who are currently and luckily witnessing the beauty of the Earth, let us commemorate Yuri Gagarin’s legacy by creating sprocket-rockety, panoramic pictures using the Lomography Sprocket Rocket Camera!
Read more about the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight.
6 comments
mantozauras
:) Just did same research in university press archive. If you want to see how the Soviet Union cheered this event in the press back in 1961 click here: http://www.facebook.(…);aid=272922
neja
it's a big day in Russia, lots of themed parties tonight
stouf
This is one of the biggest achievements of Human kind. Comparing it to the 'creation' of the sprocket rocket is a bit much, to me. Anyway, nice archives : )
vicuna
@LSI: If the sprocket Rocket is a legacy of Gagarin's achievement you should make a "Gagarin Special Edition" a bit like the Soviets did for every great event with some special badged camera models... but in itself, I agree with @stouf, the camera is not directly related to this event (besides the "Rocket" name, but it doesn't fly in space for real... @stouf: did you try to launch it like your Space Holga?.) ;)))
basterda
Hi guys, @stouf and @vicuna! We are not trying to compare the Sprocket Rocket camera to this historical event, nor are we trying to commemorate Yuri Gagarin with the camera. However, we are encouraging you to commemorate his legacy by taking pictures. We think we should all take inspiration from these achievements, expect the unexpected and feel the excitement of experiment in our lives. :)
vicuna
@basterda: no worries, we're doing it as much as we can ! :)))