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"Comrade Gennady Timofeyovich points out superior design of Soviet Vostok spacecraft. Yet another glorious triumph for the People's Space Agency."
Yes, that's me, and that's an actual engineer's model of a Vostok-1 (very similar to This Model). The Vostok-1 was the craft was piloted by Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly into space. The model was purchased several years ago by a friend of mine at a NASA auction of U.S. and Soviet space memorabilia (my friend was a proxy bidder for a group of Japanese artists who paid his way to California to attend the auction). He brought back an amazing hoard of priceless, one of a kind treasures like this one.
This model was amazing in its detail and craftsmanship, contrasted by the simple and unimpressive wooden box in which it was stored. I commented to my friend that, at one time, this model was probably a Soviet state secret, meaning that people could have died (or been killed) to keep it secret.
Yes, that's me, and that's an actual engineer's model of a Vostok-1 (very similar to This Model). The Vostok-1 was the craft was piloted by Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly into space. The model was purchased several years ago by a friend of mine at a NASA auction of U.S. and Soviet space memorabilia (my friend was a proxy bidder for a group of Japanese artists who paid his way to California to attend the auction). He brought back an amazing hoard of priceless, one of a kind treasures like this one.
This model was amazing in its detail and craftsmanship, contrasted by the simple and unimpressive wooden box in which it was stored. I commented to my friend that, at one time, this model was probably a Soviet state secret, meaning that people could have died (or been killed) to keep it secret.
Category Photography / Miscellaneous
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 800 x 600px
File Size 200.6 kB
I was just thinking I should have photoshopped the watch out of the picture. (Much like the way the Soviets airbrushed out various cosmonauts, who had fallen out of favor, from their propaganda photos.)
It was indeed a very cool item. And I have several other photos of my friend's haul -- I wanted to get pictures of these items before they were shipped to Japan. I'll upload some of my favorites when I get the chance.
It was indeed a very cool item. And I have several other photos of my friend's haul -- I wanted to get pictures of these items before they were shipped to Japan. I'll upload some of my favorites when I get the chance.
Technically, Gagarin's flight did go into orbit - but he de-orbited before completing a full revolution. You are correct that he didn't do much piloting - Vostok 1 was designed from the start to be piloted entirely from the ground, with very little input from the cosmonaut. In fact, Alan Shepherd (the first American in space, Freedom 7 having been launched on a Redstone) did a great deal more piloting than Gagarin ever could have, simply because the design of the Mercury spacecraft favored an astronaut-in-the-loop approach.
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