Every year as the anniversary of the first human spaceflight approaches, I receive calls inquiring about the validity of Yuri Gagarin’s claim as the first human in space. The legitimate questions focus on the fact that Gagarin did not land inside his spacecraft.
No. It was a space flight. He, inside the Vostok 1, went into space. He orbited the Earth once. He re-entered the atmosphere. When he was only 6 km from the ground, he jumped out of the Vostok 1 and parachuted to the ground.
No. Just high enough that he could parachute down safely without the craft because they didn’t know how to get both down safely.
So it wasn’t a space flight?
No. It was a space flight. He, inside the Vostok 1, went into space. He orbited the Earth once. He re-entered the atmosphere. When he was only 6 km from the ground, he jumped out of the Vostok 1 and parachuted to the ground.