#space explorers
The incredible rescue. The Command Module of Apollo 13 floats with astronauts James Lovell, Fred Haise & Jack Swigert catching their breaths. A damaged wire had ignited on the Service Module following a stir of the oxygen tanks. The explosion left the astronauts’ supply of oxygen venting out into space. The Lunar Module then became the lifeboat for the 3. It was designed to support 2 men on the moon for 2 days; Mission Control though worked around the clock to improvise & create new procedures to allow it to support 3 men for 4 days. Just incredible. As always, I recommend director Ron Howard’s classic ‘Apollo 13’ for your viewing pleasure to see the full story.
3 peas in a pod. Frank Borman sits in the commander’s seat to the left, with William Anders to the right & Michael Collins in the middle during flight simulator training for Apollo 8. Mr. Collins developed a back injury in 1968 which led to James Lovell replacing him on the 1st crewed flight to orbit the moon. All was not lost for Mike though as he was bumped back to Apollo 11 with Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin for the first human landing on the moon. Not too bad of a second assignment.
Dynamic duo. Astronauts John Young & Gus Grissom stand by ‘Molly Brown’, their Gemini 3 capsule aboard the USS Intrepid following their successful flight. The March 1963 mission completed 3 orbits about Earth & was the first duo space flight by NASA & first crewed flight of Project Gemini. The flight lasted 4 hours & 52 minutes. Backup crew for the mission were Wally Schirra & Tom Stafford. The original crew were to be Alan Shepard & Stafford until an inner ear disorder grounded Shepard. He’d have to wait until Apollo 14 when he got to walk on the moon at 47 years of age. Something nice to look forward to.
Мир праху твоему, Алексей Архипович Леонов (30 мая 1934 — 11 октября 2019)
I’m absolutely heartbroken about Alexei Leonov’s death yesterday. You were one of my favorite cosmonauts. Fly high and rest easy, Major General Leonov. You’re up in space with all of the other heroes too now. Thank you for your service and courageous actions for science and technology.
Happy birthday to Soviet cosmonaut and the first spacewalker, Alexei Leonov! Today, Leonov turns 85! ❤️
With Valery Bykovsky’s death last month (on the same day as Gagarin’s death), Alexei Leonov and Boris Volynov are the last two remaining cosmonauts from the Air Force Group 1 selection, the first cosmonauts team
Soyuz-4/5, 1969
Komarov shortly before the Soyuz-1 mission that would end his life
Got to go to the National Air and Space Museum in DC today as an early birthday gift, here are some of my favorite Soviet (& US) gems! + an Apollo 11 and Apollo 13 pin I got :)
I usually don’t post my art on tumblr, but considering today is the 58th anniversary of Gagarin’s flight, here’s my attempt at a painting of Yuri
Leonid Kizim, 1984, Soyuz T-10
Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, two Soviet rocket engineers that had a big impact on the Soviet Space Program, were both arrested by the NKVD and tortured in the Gulag during Stalin’s Great Purge in 1938. They were both freed in 1944, but the charges against Korolev didn’t drop until 1957. Although they did work together in building rockets, they didn’t get along very well
54 years ago today on March 18, the Soviet Union launched Vokshod-2 into space, with the pilot being Alexei Leonov and the commander being Pavel Belyayev. Leonov became the first man to spacewalk, that lasted for a total of 12 minutes.
Happy 92nd birthday to Vladimir Komarov!
One of my favorite cosmonauts, he was originally selected for the first cosmonauts in 1960, but would later be removed due to not being able to meet the age, height, and weight requirements. But he would contribute to the designs for Voskok and Voskhod, and his friends have been quoted of saying that he was a great friend and had a brilliant mind. Korolev himself said that if Komarov met the age, height, and weight requirements back in 1960, he would’ve undoubtedly chosen Komarov for Vostok-1.
His life was almost as short as Yuri’s, he died only a month after his 40th birthday. But he’ll always be remembered as someone who was brave, someone who tried to save their friend from dying. We will never forget the things Komarov accomplished during his short lived life. ❤️❤️
Vladimir Komarov during his Cuba visit in 1965
Happy 85th birthday to Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space!
Personally one of my favorite historical figures, Yuri was the reason why I became so interested in the Space Race/the history of space exploration. He was a down to earth and caring person, and befriended almost everyone he met. His spaceflight was the start of a new era for science and technology, and he’ll always be remembered for that. Although he died at the age of only 34, his legacy still lives on over 50 years after his spaceflight, and his legacy will continue to live on. ❤️❤️❤️
On July 25, 1984, Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to spacewalk. She flew two space flights: Soyuz T-5/Soyuz T-7 and Soyuz T-12. It was during Soyuz T-12 that she did a spacewalk. Cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov and her conducted an EVA outside on the Salyut-7 space station, and they spent over 3 hours outside the spacecraft. Happy Internaitonal Women’s Day!
Happy 82nd birthday to the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova! С днём рождения !
Cosmonaut Yegeny Khrunov, backup pilot for Voskhod-2 (1965)
A young Yuri Gagarin
Also, a happy 75th birthday to cosmonaut/flight engineer Alexander Serebrov. He held the record for the most number of spacewalks, 10, until cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev beat his number with a total of 16 spacewalks. Serebrov contributed to the deigns for the Salyut-6, Salyut-7, and Mir space stations, and a “space motorcycle” named Icarus. He was quite the man!
Not related to the Soviet space program, but I wanted to make this post because Roger Chaffee has a special place in my heart. Today marks the 84th birthday of astronaut Roger Chaffee. Although he died over 50 years ago, he will always be remembered in our hearts and his legacy will live in. We hope that now he’s gotten his chance to fly out of this world and travel to the moon and other planets. Rest easy and fly high, Roger.
Happy birthday to the first Asian and Vietnamese man in space, Phạm Tuân!! He turns 72 today
