50 years of man in space

Occasionally I go off topic of this blog and mention important other things.  The last time I did this was for the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger Disaster. This time it's for a lot happier event. The 50th anniversary of man in space with the launch of Vostok 1 carrying Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit and into the history books.

British Pathe has some great, unused, footage of the man himself before the launch.

Jumping forwards 20 years to 1981. This saw the first launch of the Space Transportation System, STS-1. This is better know as the first launch of the Space Shuttle. This was actually a fluke as it was due to take off on April 10 but due to a computer glitch the launch was delayed.

Jumping forwards another 20 years to 2001 and Yuri's Night was started to celebrate the anniversary of manned spaceflight.

 

This was, and still is, a night to celebrate the flight of Vostok 1 and the men and women who have followed him into space.

Even the International Space Station has got involved in today's celebration with a message.

To finish I give you one of the most striking images from spaceflight. Bruce McCandless flighing, unteathered, in space.

You can use it as wallpaper (1366x768) by just clicking on it