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Manned Space Missions

Manned space missions

Human spaceflight is space exploration with a human crew and possibly passengers, which is in contrast to robotic space probes or remotely-controlled unmanned space missions. On occasion, passengers of other species have ridden aboard spacecraft, although not all survived the return to earth. Dogs, not humans, were the first large mammals launched from Earth. The first human spaceflight was Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961; Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made one orbit around the earth. Perhaps the highest of Earth orbits was Gemini 11 in 1966, which reached a height of 1374 km. The Space Shuttle on the missions to launch and service the Hubble Space Telescope has also reached high earth orbit at an altitude of around 600 km. The destination of human spaceflight missions beyond Earth orbit has only been the Moon. On the first such mission, Apollo 8, the crew orbited the Moon. Apollo 10 was the next mission, and it tested the lunar landing craft in lunar orbit without actually landing. The six missions that landed were Apollo 11-17, excluding Apollo 13. On each mission, two of the three astronauts involved landed on the moon; thus, in the late 1960s and early 1970s NASA's Apollo program landed twelve men on the Moon--returning them all to Earth. As of 2005 piloted space missions have been carried out by Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the United States. Missions carried out by the United States are both governmental (NASA) and civilian (Scaled Composites, a California-based company). Canada, Europe, India, and Japan also have active space programs. The Indian Parliament recently sanctioned funds to the Indian Space Research Organization for a human spaceflight by 2008 (although the programme has now been scaled down to start with an unmanned orbiting satellite for surveying--see Chandrayan). Japan has announced a program to place a person on the moon by 2025. Currently the following spacecrafts and spaceports are used:
- International Space Station (includes Soyuz TMA as an emergency lander; normal crew transport with the following two spacecraft)
- Soyuz TMA with Soyuz launch vehicle - Baikonur Cosmodrome
- Space Shuttle - John F. Kennedy Space Center
- Shenzhou spacecraft with Long March rocket - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center
- Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne with Scaled Composites White Knight (the latter does not enter space itself) - Mojave Spaceport In an attempt to win the $10 million X-Prize, numerous private companies attempted to build their own manned spacecraft capable of repeated sub-orbital flights. The first private spaceflight took place on June 21 2004, when SpaceShipOne conducted a sub-orbital flight. With its second flight within one week, SpaceShipOne captured the prize on October 4, 2004. NASA uses the term "human spaceflight" to refer to its programme of launching people into space. Traditionally, these endeavours have been referred to as "manned space missions". The term "manned" is accurate in terms of gender when speaking of all U.S. spaceflight programs before the Space Shuttle program and Soviet spaceflights before Vostok 6. Although it only denotes gender in one of several definitions of the word, the term "manned" is considered sexist by some, and they may prefer to use the term "crewed"' or "piloted space missions."

External links

- [http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/ NASA Human Space Flight]
- [http://www.thespacereview.com/article/352/1 The top three reasons for humans in space]
- [http://www.chrisvalentines.com/sts107/videoessay.html 20 Minute Video Essay on Human Space Exploration] Category:Human spaceflight

Astronaut

An astronaut, cosmonaut, spationaut or taikonaut (taikongren, 太空人) is a person who travels into space, or who makes a career of doing so. The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary (see edge of space). In the United States, people who travel above an altitude of 50 miles (approximately 80 kilometers) are designated as astronauts. The FAI defines spaceflight as over 100 km (approximately 62 miles). As of October 12, 2005, a total of 448 humans have reached space according to the U.S. definition, 442 people qualify under the FAI definition, while 438 people have reached Earth orbit or beyond. These individuals have spent over 28,000 crew-days (or a cumulative total of 76.7 years) in space including over 100 crew-days of spacewalks. A person who has traveled in space is said to hold astronaut wings. Astronauts from at least 34 countries have gone into space.

International variations

By convention, a space traveller employed by the Russian Aviation and Space Agency or its Soviet predecessor is called a cosmonaut. "Cosmonaut" is an anglicisation of the Russian word космонавт (kosmonavt), which in turn derives from the Greek words kosmos, meaning "universe" and nautes, "sailor". In the USA, a space traveller is called an astronaut. The term derives from the Greek words ástron ("star") and nautes, ("sailor"). For the most part, "cosmonaut" and "astronaut" are synonyms in all languages, and the usage of choice is often dictated by political reasons. However in the United States, the term "astronaut" is typically applied to the individual as soon as training begins, while in Russia, an individual is not labeled a cosmonaut until successful space flight. The first known use of the term was by Neil R. Jones in his short story The Death's Head Meteor in 1930. On March 14, 1995 astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to ride to space on-board a Russian launch vehicle, arguably becoming the first American cosmonaut in the process. European (outside of the UK) space travellers are sometimes, especially in French-speaking countries, called spationauts (a hybrid word formed from the Latin spatium, "space", and Greek nautes, "sailor"). Apart from the Soviet Union, Europe has not yet produced manned spacecraft, but has sent men and women into space in cooperation with Russia and to a lesser extent with the United States of America. Taikonaut is sometimes used in English for astronauts from China by Western news media. The term was coined in May 1998 by Chiew Lee Yih (赵里昱) from Malaysia, who used it first in newsgroups. Almost simultaneously, Chen Lan coined it for use in the Western media based on the term tàikōng (太空), Chinese for "space". In Chinese itself, however, a single term yǔháng yuán (宇航員, "universe navigator") has long been used for astronauts. The closest term using taikong is a colloquialism tàikōng rén (太空人, "space human"), which refers to people who have actually been in space. Official English texts issued by the Chinese government use astronaut ().

Space milestones

colloquialism The first attempt ever in human history to use rocket for a spaceflight was done in the 16th century by a Chinese Ming dynasty official, a skilled stargazer named Wan Hu.^{[http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/09/30/china.wanhu/index.html]} The first cosmonaut was Yuri Gagarin, who was launched into space on April 12 1961 aboard Vostok 1. The first woman cosmonaut was Valentina Tereshkova, launched into space in June 1963 aboard Vostok 6. Alan Shepard became the first American in space in May 1961. Vladimir Remek became the first non-Soviet European in space in 1978 on a Russian Soyuz rocket. On July 23 1980 Pham Tuan of Vietnam became the first Asian in space when he flew aboard Soyuz 37. In June 1985 Shannon Lucid became the first Chinese born person in space. On October 15 2003 Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut on the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft. The first mission to orbit the moon was Apollo 8 which included William Anders - who was born in Hong Kong making him the first Asian-born astronaut in 1968. The youngest person to fly in space is Gherman Titov, who was roughly 26 years old when he flew Vostok 2, and the oldest is John Glenn who was 77 when he flew on STS-95. The longest stay in space was 438 days by Valeri Polyakov. As of 2005, the most spaceflights by an individual astronaut was seven, a record held by both Jerry L. Ross and Franklin Chang-Diaz. The furthest distance from Earth an astronaut has traveled was 401,056 km (during the Apollo 13 emergency). The first non-governmental astronaut was Christa McAuliffe, who was killed during the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986. The first astronaut to fly a privately-funded mission was Mike Melvill, on SpaceShipOne flight 15P. This should be contrasted with the various millionaire space tourists, who have flown as passengers, or minor crew members, on publicly funded flights (generally Russian resupply flights to the ISS). The first space tourist was Dennis Tito on April 28, 2001. In the United States, persons selected as astronaut candidates receive silver Astronaut wings. Once they have flown in space they receive gold Astronaut wings. The United States Air Force also presents Astronaut wings to its pilots who exceed 50 miles in altitude.

International astronauts

United States Air Force Up until the end of the 1970s only Americans and Soviets were active astronauts. In 1976 the Soviets started the Intercosmos program with a first group of 6 cosmonauts from fellow socialist countries, a second group started training in 1978. At about the same time in 1978 the European Space Agency selected 4 astronauts to train for the first Spacelab mission on board of the Space Shuttle. In 1980 France started their own selection of astronauts, followed in 1982 by Germany, in 1983 by the Canadian space program, in 1985 by Japan and Italy in 1988. Several more international payload specialist were selected for the Space Shuttle, and also later for international Soyuz missions of Russia. In 1998 the European Space Agency formed a single astronaut corps of 18 by dissolving the former national corps of France, Germany and Italy.

Astronaut training

The first astronauts, both in the USA and USSR, tended to be jet fighter pilots, often test pilots, from military backgrounds. U.S. military astronauts receive a special qualification badge, known as the Astronaut Badge upon completion of Astronaut training and participation in a space flight.

Astronaut deaths

Astronaut Badge To date, eighteen astronauts have been killed on space missions, and at least ten more have been killed in ground-based training accidents. See also: space disaster.

External links

- [http://www.astronautix.com Encyclopedia Astronautica]
- [http://www.astronautix.com/astrogrp/phaonaut.htm Encyclopedia Astronautica: Phantom cosmonauts]
- Category:Transportation and material moving occupations Category:Transportation occupations Category:Science occupations ja:宇宙飛行士 simple:Astronaut th:นักบินอวกาศ

Robot

In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs its tasks either according to direct human control, partial control with human supervision, or completely autonomously. Robots are typically used to do tasks that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. Industrial robots used in manufacturing lines used to be the most common form of robots, but that has recently been replaced by consumer robots cleaning floors and mowing lawns. Other applications include toxic waste cleanup, underwater and space exploration, surgery, mining, search and rescue, and searching for IEDs and land mines. Robots are also finding their way into entertainment and home health care.

Overview

A robot may include a feedback-driven connection between sense and action, not under direct human control, although it may have a human override function. The action may take the form of electro-magnetic motors or actuators (also called effectors) that move an arm, open and close grips, or propel the robot. The step by step control and feedback is provided by a computer program run on either an external or embedded computer or a microcontroller. By this definition, a robot may include nearly all automated devices. Two basic ways of using effectors are to move the robot around (locomotion) or to move other objects around (manipulation). This distinction divides robotics into two mostly separate categories: mobile robotics (moving) and manipulator robotics (grabbing). The most notable exception to this rule is the self-reconfigurable robots which potentially is able to use their effectors in three basic ways: locomotion, manipulation and self-reconfiguration, where the robot changes its own shape and/or function to better solve the task at hand. Alternately, robot has been used as the general term for a mechanical man, or an automaton resembling an animal, either real or imaginary. It has come to be applied to many machines which directly replace a human or animal in work or play. In this way, a robot can be seen as a form of biomimicry. Lack of anthropomorphism is perhaps what makes us reluctant to refer to the highly complex modern washer-dryer as a robot. However, in modern understanding, the term implies a degree of autonomy that would exclude many automatic machine tools from being called robots. It is the search for ever more highly autonomous robots or cognitive robots which is the major focus of robotics research and which drives much work in artificial intelligence. The term robot is also often used to refer to sophisticated mechanical devices that are remotely controlled by human beings, such as waldoes and ROVs, even though these devices are not autonomous.

History

The idea of artificial people dates at least as far back as the ancient legend of Cadmus, who sowed dragon teeth that turned into soldiers, and the myth of Pygmalion, whose statue of Galatea came to life. In classical mythology, the deformed god of metalwork (Vulcan or Hephaestus) created mechanical servants, ranging from intelligent, golden handmaidens to more utilitarian three-legged tables that could move about under their own power. Jewish legend tells of the Golem, a clay statue animated by Kabbalistic magic. Similarly, in the Younger Edda, Norse mythology tells of a clay giant, Mökkurkálfi or Mistcalf, constructed to aid the troll Hrungnir in a duel with Thor, the God of Thunder. Czech writer Karel Čapek introduced the word "Robot" in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) in 1921. The term "robot" was actually not created by Karel Čapek but by his brother Josef, also a respected Czech writer and painter. "Robot" comes from the Czech word "robota", meaning "forced labor, drudgery." The earliest ideas that could be related to the robotics of today was in 350 B.C. by the Greek mathematician Archytas of Tarentum. He created a mechanical bird he called “The Pigeon.” The bird was propelled by steam. The first recorded design of a humanoid robot was made by Leonardo da Vinci around 1495. Da Vinci's notebooks, rediscovered in the 1950s, contained detailed drawings for a mechanical knight that was apparently able to sit up, wave its arms, and move its head and jaw. The design was likely based on his anatomical research recorded in the Vitruvian Man. It is not known whether or not he attempted to build the robot (see: Leonardo's robot). The first known functioning robot was created in 1738 by Jacques de Vaucanson, who made an android that played the flute, as well as a mechanical duck that reportedly ate and defecated. E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1817 short story "The Sandman" features a doll-like mechanical woman, and Edward S. Ellis' 1865 "Steam Man of the Prairies" expresses the American fascination with industrialization. A wave of stories about humanoid automatons culminated with the "Electric Man" by Luis Senarens in 1885. Once technology advanced to the point where people foresaw mechanical creatures as more than toys, literary responses to the concept of robots reflected fears that humans would be replaced by their own creations. Frankenstein (1818), sometimes called the first science fiction novel, has become synonymous with this theme. When Čapek's play RUR introduced the concept of an assembly line run by robots who try to build still more robots, the theme took on economic and philosophical overtones, further disseminated by the classic movie Metropolis (1927), and the popular Blade Runner (1982) and The Terminator (1984). With robots a reality and intelligent robots a likely prospect, a better understanding of interactions between robots and human is embodied in such modern films as Spielberg's A.I. (2001) and Proyas' I, Robot (2004). Many consider the first robot in the modern sense to be a teleoperated boat, similar to a modern ROV, devised by Nikola Tesla and demonstrated at an 1898 exhibition in Madison Square Garden. Based on his patent 613,809 for "teleautomation", Tesla hoped to develop the "wireless torpedo" into an automated weapon system for the US Navy. In the thirties, Westinghouse made a humanoid robot known as Elektro. It was exhibited at the 1939 and 1940 World's Fairs. The first electronic autonomous robots were created by Grey Walter at Bristol University, England in 1948.

Literary history

:See also List of fictional robots and androids The word robot comes from the Czech robota meaning "drudgery." Robotnik was used in the 1600's to classify Czech tenant-farmers. A robotnik had to work as a minimum one month a year free for the landlord, according to Karsten Alnaes in his "European History II". In modern Czech language, robotnik means "worker". The word was first used in its modern sense in Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) (written in 1920; first performed in Czechoslovakia 1921; performed in New York 1922; English edition published 1923). [http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/RUR/]. While Karel Čapek is frequently acknowledged as the originator of the word, he wrote a short letter in reference to the Oxford English Dictionary ethymology in which he named his brother, painter and writer Josef Čapek as its true inventor. [http://capek.misto.cz/english/robot.html]. Some claim that the word "robot" was first used in Josef Čapek's short story Opilec (the Drunkard) published in the collection Lelio in 1917. According to the Čapek Brothers Society in Prague, this is not correct. The word used in Opilec is "automat". "Robot" appeared in R.U.R. for the first time. Although Čapek's robots were organic artificial humans, the word robot has come to refer to mechanical humans. The term android can mean either one of these, while a cyborg ("cybernetic organism" or "bionic man") would be a creature that is a combination of organic and mechanical parts. In Douglas Adams series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the marketing division of the fictional Sirius Cybernetics Corporation defines a robot as "your plastic pal who's fun to be with".

Robotics

According to the American Heritage Dictionary, robotics is the science or study of the technology associated with the design, fabrication, theory, and application of robots. The word robotics was first used (in print) in Isaac Asimov's science fiction story "Liar!" (1941) In it, he referred to the 'three rules of robotics' that later became the Three Laws of Robotics in the short fiction collection I, Robot.. Robotics requires a working knowledge of electronics, mechanics, and software. Depending on the size of the project a working knowledge of kinematics, pneumatics, hydraulics, and microcontrollers / PLCs will also be useful. A standard process while creating a robot starts with an exploration of the sensors, algorithms, and actuators that will be required to perform the required task. Some idea of the most effective size for the robot and its primary power source are then decided. After a basic mobile platform has been completed, sensors and other inputs and outputs throughout the robot are connected to a decision-making device, most commonly a microcontroller. This circuit evaluates the input signals, calculates what the appropriate response is, and sends appropriate signals out to the actuators to cause a reaction.

Contemporary uses of robots

microcontroller Robots are used to do tasks that are too dull, dirty, or dangerous for humans. Industrial robots used in manufacturing lines used to be the most common form of robots, but that has recently been replaced by consumer robots cleaning floors and mowing lawns. Other applications include toxic waste cleanup, underwater and space exploration, surgery, mining, search and rescue, and searching for IEDs and land mines. Robots are also finding their way into entertainment and home health care. Industrial manipulators are similar in motion capability to the human arm and are the most widely used in industry. Applications include welding, painting, and machine loading. The automotive industry has taken full advantage of this technology where robots have been programmed to replace human labor in many repetitive or dangerous tasks. The wide adoption of such technologies, however, was delayed by the availability of cheap labour and high capital requirements of robots. Another form of industrial robots is AGVs (Automated Guided Vehicles). AGVs are used in warehouses, hospitals, container ports, laboratories, server facilities, and other applications where risk, reliability, and security are important concerns. Likewise, autonomously patrolling safety and security robots are appearing as part of the growing move toward automated buildings. In early 2000s domestic robots entered the mainstream culture, with the success of Sony's Aibo and several manufacturers releasing robot vacuum cleaners, such as iRobot, Electrolux, and Karcher. Over 1,000,000 vacuum cleaner units were sold worldwide by the end of 2004 [http://www.unece.org/press/pr2004/04robots_index.htm]. iRobot plans to produce a floor mopping robot similar in size and design to the robot vacuum cleaners. Japanese corporations have been successful in developing prototypes of humanoid robots and plan to use the technology not only in their manufacturing plants, but also in Japanese homes. There is much hope in Japan that home care for an aging (and long-lived) population can be better achieved through robotics. While robotic technology has achieved a certain amount of maturity, the social impact of these robots is largely unknown. The field of social robots is now emerging and investigates the relationship between robots and humans. A ludobot is an instance of a social robot dedicated to entertainment and companionship. Robots have also been explored as a form of High-tech Art. The Austin Robot group and LMABTechnics have produced many interesting pieces such as Sparky and GeniumAR8.

Current developments

When roboticists first attempted to mimic human and animal gaits, they discovered that it was incredibly difficult; requiring more computational power than what was available at the time. So, emphasis was shifted to other areas of research. Simple wheeled robots were used to conduct experiments in behavior, navigation, and path planning. These navigation techniques have now developed into commercially available autonomous robot control systems; the most sophisticated examples of autonomous navigation control systems now available include laser-based navigation systems and VSLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems from ActivMedia Robotics and Evolution Robotics. When engineers were ready to attempt walking robots again, they started small with hexapods and other multi-legged platforms. These robots mimicked insects and arthropods in both form and function. The trend towards these body types offer immense flexibility and proven adaptability to any environment, but the cost of the added mechanical complexity has prevented adoption by consumers. With more than four legs, these robots are statically stable which makes them easier to work with. The goal of bipedal robot research is to achieve a walk using passive-dynamic motion that mimics the natural human gait. There has been some recent progress towards robot bipedal locomotion, however a robust bipedal gait is still years away. statically stable Another technical problem preventing wider adoption of robots is the complexity of handling physical objects in the inherently chaotic natural environment. Tactile sensors and better vision algorithms may solve this problem. The UJI Online Robot from University Jaume I in Spain is a good example of current progress in this field. Recently, tremendous progress has been made in medical robotics, with two companies in particular, Computer Motion and Intuitive Surgical, receiving regulatory approval in North America, Europe and Asia for their robots to be used in minimal invasive surgical procedures. Laboratory automation is also a growing area. Here, benchtop robots are used to transport biological or chemical samples between instruments such as incubators, liquid handlers and readers. Other places where robots are likely to replace human labour are in deep-sea exploration and space exploration. For these tasks, arthropod body types are generally preferred. Mark W. Tilden formerly of Los Alamos National Laboratories specializes in cheap robots with bent but unjointed legs, while others seek to replicate the full jointed motion of crabs' legs. Experimental winged robots and other examples exploiting biomimicry are also in early development. So-called "nanomotors" and "smart wires" are expected to drastically simplify motive power, while in-flight stabilization seems likely to be improved by extremely small gyroscopes. A significant driver of this work is military research into spy technologies.

Future prospects

Some scientists believe that robots will be able to approximate human-like intelligence in the first half of the 21st century. Even before such theoretical intelligence levels are obtained, it is speculated that robots may begin to replace humans in many labor-intensive career fields. The cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener discussed some of these issues in his book The human use of human beings (1950), in which he speculated that robots taking over human jobs may initially lead to growing unemployment and social turmoil, but that in the medium-term it might bring increased material wealth to people in most nations. One might think of these robots collectively as a new "robot proletariat," or working class, which will enable humans to concern themselves mainly with ruling the means of production (such as farm equipment and factories) and enjoying the fruits of robots' labour. Such a shift in the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services would represent a radical departure from current socio-economic systems, and in order to avoid poverty normally caused by unemployment and to be allowed to partake in the fruits of robotic labour, the human proletariat would need to overthrow the ruling class, in full accordance with Marx's predictions. Robotics will probably continue its spread in offices and homes, replacing "dumb" appliances with smart robotic equivalents. Domestic robots capable of performing many household tasks, described in science fiction stories and coveted by the public in the 1960s, are likely to be eventually perfected. There is likely to be some degree of convergence between humans and robots. Some humans are already cyborgs with some body parts and even parts of the nervous system replaced by artificial analogues, such as Pacemakers. In many cases the same technology might be used both in robotics and in medicine. Although not strictly robotics, there has been study in this area by Professor Kevin Warwick.

Robot competitions

:See also: :Category:Robotics competitions Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST, created a competitive forum that inspires in young people, their schools and communities an appreciation of science and technology. Their robotics competition is a multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. In 2003 the competition will reach more than 20,000 students on over 800 teams in 24 competitions. Teams come from Canada, Brazil, the U.K., and almost every U.S. state. Unlike the Robot sumo wrestling competitions that take place regularly in some venues, or the Battlebots competitions on TV, these competitions include the creation of the robot. RoboCup is a competitive organization dedicated to developing a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can win against the human world soccer champion team by the year 2050. There are many different leagues from simulation, to full-size humanoid. RoboCup Jr. is similar to RoboCup. RoboCup Jr. is a competition for anybody under 18 years of age, and is a bit easier than the real RoboCup. RoboCup Jr. includes three competitions: soccer (a soccer tournament), rescue (an obstacle course which an item has to be brought from one end to the other) and dance (robots dancing to music judged for the dancing, creativity and costumes). Like RoboCup, all robots have to be built and programmed by the team that made it, there is no buying other robots allowed. The DARPA Grand Challenge is a competition for robotic vehicles to complete an under-200 mile, off-road course in the Mojave Desert. The unclaimed 2004 prize was $1,000,000. The farthest any participant got was only 7.4 miles. However, the 2005 prize of $2,000,000 was claimed by Stanford University. In this race, four vehicles successfully completed the race. This is a testament to how fast robotic vision and navigation are improving. The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition ([http://www.igvc.org/ IGVC]), is a competition for autonomous ground vehicles that must traverse outdoor obstacle courses without any human interaction. This international competition sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International ([http://www.auvsi.org/ AUVSI]), is a student design competition at the university level and has held annual competitions since 1992. The two AAAI Grand Challenges focus on Human Robot Interaction, with one being a robot attending and delivering a conference talk, the other being operator-interaction challenges in rescue robotics. The Centennial Challenges are NASA prize contests for non-government funded technological achievements, including robotics, by US citizens. In Micromouse competitions, small robots try to solve a maze in the fastest time. The popularity of the TV shows Robot Wars Robotica and Battlebots, of college level robot-sumo wrestling competitions, the success of "smart bombs" and UCAVs in armed conflicts, grass-eating "gastrobots" in Florida, and the creation of a slug-eating robot in England, suggest that the fear of an artificial life form doing harm, or competing with natural wild life, is not an illusion. The worldwide Green Parties in 2002 were asking for public input on extending their existing policies against such competition, as part of more general biosafety and biosecurity concerns. It appears that, like Aldous Huxley's concerns about human cloning, questions Karel Čapek raised eighty years earlier in science fiction have become real debates.

Possible dangers

The concern that robots might displace or compete with humans is common. In his I, Robot series, Isaac Asimov created the Three Laws of Robotics in a literary attempt to control the competition of robots with humans: # A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. # A robot must obey the orders given to it by the human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. # A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law. Unfortunately the issue may be not so simple to resolve. Asimov himself based the plots of several novels and short stories on probing into the applicability and sufficiency of the Three Laws. The laws or rules that could or must apply to robots or other "autonomous capital" in cooperation or competition with humans have spurred investigation of macro-economics of this competition, notably by Alessandro Acquisti building on much older work by John von Neumann. Even without overt malicious programming, robots and humans simply do not have the same body tolerances or awareness, leading to accidents: In Jackson, Michigan on July 21, 1984, a factory robot crushed a worker against a safety bar in apparently the first robot-related death in the United States. Since then, laser light curtains have been required to protect against such dangers from heavy equipment. In another take on the issue, the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Prototype" depicted a group of robots known as Automated Personnel Units, which had been built for combat by a pair of warring species but later killed their creators when the war ended.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3897583.stm "Robots get bookish in libraries"]
- [http://www.mobilerobots.com/ethicalRobotics.html "Will Robots Take Over the World?"]
- [http://www.avt.me.vt.edu/index.html The Autonomous Vehicle Team at Virginia Tech]
- [http://www.me.vt.edu/grandchallenge/ The DARPA Grand Challenge Team at Virginia Tech]
- Prototype (Voyager episode)

Classes of robots

- Analog robots (they use analog circuitry to perform goals such as going towards light; its analog circuitry is used extensively in BEAM robotics)
- Arthropod robots (exoskeletons)
- Autonomous Robots
- Autonomous research robots
- Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- Unmanned Underwater Vehicles
- Humanoid robot
- Hyper redundant robots
- Locomotion Styles
- Differential wheeled robots
- Snakebot
- Walker
- Biped Robots
- Multi-legged robots: Quadruped Robots, Hexapod Robots
- Nanorobots
- Service robots
- Domestic robots (Domobots)
- Educational Robotics
- LEGO Mindstorms
- BEAM robotics
- Entertainment robots
- robot combat
- Industrial robots
- Laboratory robotics
- Ludobots: play/entertainment robots, like Sony's Aibo 'dogbot'
- Medical robots
- Military robots
- Social robots

Research areas associated with robotics

- Behavior based robotics and Subsumption architecture
- Biomorphic robotics
- Developmental robotics
- Epigenetic robotics
- Evolutionary robotics
- Cognitive robotics
- Robot control
- Robot kinematics
- Artificial intelligence
- Automated planning and scheduling
- Mechatronics
- Neural networks
- Cybernetics
- Artificial consciousness
- Telerobotics / Telepresence
- Nanotechnology and MEMS
- Swarm robotics
- Human Robot Interaction

Additional robot topics

- Carbon chauvinism (see: Alternative biochemistry)
- Clanking replicators
- Disabled robotics: Robot exoskeleton
- Courier Robots
- Gynoid
- Isaac Asimov's Robot Series
- List of fictional robots and androids
- Microbot
- Passive dynamics
- Rapid prototyping
- RoboCup
- Robotherapy
- Robotic mapping
- Robotic unicycle
- Robots in literature and fantasy: Robby the Robot
- Uncanny Valley
- Self Reconfigurable

Notable roboticists

:See also: roboticist
- Jacques de Vaucanson Invented various early automatons
- Grey Walter Constructed autonomous 'turtle' robots in the 1940s
- Ronald Arkin, Georgia Tech College of Computing
- Rodney Brooks, MIT CSAIL
- Sebastian Thrun, Stanford University Inventor of Markov localization
- George Devol Inventor of the patented devices behind Unimation Inc.
- Joseph F. Engelberger Founder of Unimation Inc.
- Shigeo Hirose, Tokyo Institute of Technology
- Hirochika Inoue, Tokyo University
- Takeo Kanade, CMU Robotics Institute
- Hans Moravec, CMU Robotics Institute
- Oh Jun-ho Inventor of Korean walking/golfing robot Hubo
- Tomas Lozano-Perez MIT CSAIL
- Maja Mataric' University of Southern California pioneered using basis behaviors to produce group behaviors on mobile robots
- Masahiro Mori
- Marc Raibert, Inventor of hopping and running machines
- Bernie Roth, Stanford University
- J. Kenneth Salisbury, Stanford University
- Stefan Schaal, University of Southern California researcher of humanoid robots
- Victor Scheinman
- Mark Tilden, LANL
- Red Whittaker, CMU Robotics Institute
- Cynthia Breazeal, Director of MIT Media Lab's Robotic Life Group
- Robert Ambrose, NASA's Johnson Space Center
- Robin Murphy, Director of the Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue, works on AI Robotics
- Jeff Trinkle, RPI
- Miomir Vukobratovic, Mihaljo Pupin Institute, Belgrad. In 1968, he developed the "Zero Moment Point" method for balancing walking robots. His first walking robot was developed in 1972.

Notable robots

Operational robots
- QRIO
- Aibo
- Asimo
- Hubo Korean humanoid robot
- PackBot
- PatrolBot
- Shakey
- Robonaut
- Da Vinci
- Roomba
- Stanley
- Wakamaru Robots in science fiction
- Alpha 5, Alpha 6, Alpha 7
- Bender
- C-3PO
- HAL
- Johnny 5
- KITT
- Marvin
- Max
- R2-D2
- R. Daneel Olivaw
- Robby the Robot
- T-800
- workbot
- Optimus Prime
- The Transformers

External links

Media coverage and articles

- [http://web.archive.org/web/20040710071552/http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/07/06/hospital.robots.ap/index.html Courier robots get traction in hospitals] – CNN/AP, 6 July 2004
- [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.07/race.html The Humanoid Race] – An overview of progress as of 2004 in various aspects of humanoid robot construction, Wired.
- [http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-01-09-10 Robot navigation and vision system] – BetterHumans, 9 January 2003
- [http://www.intel.com/employee/retiree/circuit/robot.htm Robot nurse escorts and schmoozes the elderly] – Intel publication, 24 August 2004
- [http://www.marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm Robotic Nation] by Marshall Brain ([http://ask.slashdot.org/askslashdot/03/07/24/1227209.shtml?tid=126 Slashdot discussion])
- [http://samvak.tripod.com/robot.html Critical analysis of Asimov's three laws of robotics] by Sam Vaknin
- [http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/LegalRightsOfRobots.htm The Legal Rights of Robots] by Robert A. Freitas
- [http://www.intel.com/update/contents/it05031.htm Mobile Robots as Gateways into Wireless Sensor Networks] – Intel Magazine, November 2004
- [http://www.contractoruk.com/news/001936.html Artificial chromosomes in robots] February 2005
- [http://haas.ca/articles/20040415-robots.cfm A Word About The World Robot Declaration] April 2004

General information and non-profit organizations

- [http://www.societyofrobots.com/ Society of Robots] – 'How to build a robot' tutorials, and a robot forum to get help.
- [http://www.euron.org/ EURON]: the European Robotics Research Network which currently assembles over 150 robotics research institutes and robotics companies in Europe.
- [http://www.labautomation.org/ ALA] – The Association for Laboratory Automation
- [http://www.lab-robotics.org/ LRIG] – The Laboratory Robotics Interest Group
- [http://www.SeattleRobotics.org/ SeattleRobotics.org] – The Seattle Robotics Society, one of the oldest and largest hobby robotics groups in the world.
- [http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Robotics/Robots/ Open Directory Section for Famous Robots] – Links and descriptions for well-known robots; Asimo, COG, and many others
- [http://www.ifr.org/ International Federation of Robotics]
- [http://www.robo-etf.org/ Robotics Engineering Task Force] (not updated since 2003)
- [http://www.gorobotics.net/ GoRobotics.net] Robotics resource website - robot news, projects, books, and club listings.
- [http://www.eurobot.org/eng/ Eurobot, an international amateur robotics contest]
- [http://robots.net/ robots.net] – Hobbyist and professional robotics site with news, robot gallery, project descriptions, and articles
- [http://oap.sourceforge.net/ Open Automaton Project] at sourceforge.net
- [http://www.robothalloffame.org/ The Robot Hall of Fame]
- [http://www.robotdirectory.org/ The Robot Directory] – An online gallery of robots
- [http://www.roboticsindia.com/ Robotics India] – Robotics Community portal with forums, chat, downloads and information relevant to robotics.
- [http://www.orionrobots.co.uk/tiki-index.php The OrionWiki] – Specifically aimed at technical content; also: downloads and personal spaces for robot builders/hobbyists
- [http://www.amorphicrobotworks.org/ AmorphicRobotWorks(ARW)] – A group working to create robotic performances and installations
- [http://www.robot.org.uk/ www.robot.org.uk] – A guide for robot builders with lists of reviewed books, magazines, approved parts suppliers, etc.
- [http://www.robodock.org/ Robodock] – A theater festival in The Netherlands heavily inspired by robotica.
- [http://www.robotsrule.com/phpBB2/ Robots Forum] Discussion forum for Robot builders
- [http://www.robotmc.org/ Robot MC (Dutch, belgium)] – Belgian robot club. Site includes videos and photos.
- [http://robotics.calpoly.edu/ Cal Poly Robotics Club] – Site includes project descriptions, tutorials, and development tools.
- [http://robotics.megagiant.com/history.html A brief history of robotics]
- [http://www.movie-monsters.co.uk/robots.html Robots in sci-fi and horror films]
- [http://www.transmediale.de/page/detail/detail.0.projects.353.2.html Analog Robots] – A brief description.
- [http://www.solarbotics.net BEAM community] A specific type of analog robot.
- [http://www.nsi.edu/nomad/iros2003_jlk_gme.pdf#search='Darwin%20VII' Darwin VII, based on principles of the nervous system]
- [http://babel.massart.edu/~fredless/ Fred Wolflink's Massachusetts College of Art Robotic Art Pages]
- [http://fp.cyberlifersrch.plus.com/lucy.htm Lucy the Orangutan, based on principles of the nervous system]
- [http://www.endtas.com/robot Endtas robotics community website]
- [http://jwbats.blogspot.com/2005/10/robots-mainstream-by-2006-2007.html Robots Mainstream by 2006, 2007?] Information about robots moving into mainstream use, which is estimated to be around 2007.
- [http://lucy.vub.ac.be/robotmovie.htm Compilation video of some amazing robots] Compilation video (30min) of some amazing robots as qrio, asimo, HRP2, Partner robot, HAL,...
- [http://www.hobbyrobotics.org HobbyRobotics.org] provides reviews and links to information for hobby roboticists.

Commercial projects

- [http://www.dimensionengineering.com/ Dimension Engineering] – Robotics products and example projects aimed at hobbyists
- [http://www.trueforce.com/ trueforce.com] – Technical information on robotics, with a list of suppliers
- [http://www.robofolio.com/ The Robofolio] – An excellent portal for robot hobbyists.
- [http://www.roboticspot.com/en/ RoboticSpot.com] – Site about robotics, news, events and articles in English and Spanish
- [http://www.rhinorobotics.com/ Rhino Robotics] – Manufacturer of educational robots
- [http://www.mobilerobots.com/ MobileRobots, Inc] – Autonomous robots and intelligent control systems for development of commercial applications
- [http://www.robotics.com/robots.html Robot Information Central] – Link directory at a commercial site
- [http://www.iguana-robotics.com/RobotUniverse/ Robot Universe] – Link directory at a commercial site
- [http://www.robots.com/ robots.com] – Pay per click directory of links with some items related to robotics
- [http://ants.dif.um.es/~humberto/robots/ BGA architecture and robotic software ]
- [http://www.autopenhosting.org/robots/ Fractal Robots] Information on Fractal Robots
- [http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200412/200412220012.html Hubo, a low cost humanoid robot launched in Korea]
- [http://evolution.com Evolution Robotics, developed vision for sony AIBO and ER-1]
- [http://www.digitalinspection.co.uk/ Robot Vision]
- [http://www.movie-monsters.co.uk/robots.html Robots in film]
- Robot
- Robot Category:Computer vision ko:로봇 ja:ロボット th:หุ่นยนต์

Unmanned space missions

Unmanned space missions are those using remote-controlled spacecraft. Many space missions are more suitable for unmanned missions rather than manned space missions, due to lower cost and lower risk factors. The first such mission was Sputnik I, launched October 4, 1957. Since the early 1970s, most unmanned space missions have been based on space probes with built-in mission computers, and as such may be classified as embedded systems. Some people prefer to use gender-neutral terms such as unpiloted or uncrewed space missions, although the terms are less popular than "unmanned" (as of 2005). Unmanned space missions have been flown by many countries. Most American unmanned missions have been coordinated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and European missions by the European Space Operations Centre, part of ESA (the European Space Agency). The ESA has conducted relatively few space exploration missions (one example is the Giotto mission, which encountered comet Halley). ESA has, however, launched various spacecraft to carry out astronomy, and is a collaborator with NASA on the Hubble Space Telescope. There has been a large number of very successful Russian space missions. There have also been a few Japanese,Chinese and Indian missions. Unmanned space missions may be divided into two classes: artificial satellites, which orbit the Earth, and space probes, which leave Earth's orbit to explore other worlds. See the relevant articles for more information.

External links

- [http://sci.esa.int/home/ourmissions/index.cfm ESA Unmanned Space Missions]
- [http://www.jpl.nasa.gov NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]
- [http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com Unmanned spaceflight discussion forum] Category:Space exploration Category:Embedded systems Category:Unmanned vehicles

Vostok 1

Vostok 1 was the first manned space mission. Launched on April 12, 1961, Vostok 1 took Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space, the first time anyone had ever journeyed beyond the Earth's atmosphere and the first time anyone went into orbit.

Crew

- Yuri Gagarin Backup
- Gherman S. Titov

Mission Parameters

- Mass: 4,725 kg
- Perigee: 169 km
- Apogee: 315 km
- Inclination: 64.95°
- Period: 89.34 minutes
- NSSDC ID: 1961-012A

Mission Highlights

Gherman S. Titov Gagarin orbited the Earth once, in 108 minutes, and returned unharmed, ejecting from the Vostok capsule 7 km above the ground and parachuting separately to the ground (the capsule's parachute landing was too rough for cosmonauts to risk). Ground controllers did not know if a stable orbit had been achieved until 25 minutes after launch. The spacecraft altitude control was run by an automated system. Medical staff and spacecraft engineers were unsure how a human being might react to weightlessness. For this reason, the pilot's flight controls were locked out to prevent Gagarin from taking manual control. Codes to unlock the controls were placed in an onboard envelope, for Gagarin's use, in case of an emergency. Vostok could not change its orbit, only orbital attitude. For much of the flight, the spacecraft's altitude was allowed to drift. The automatic system brought Vostok 1 into alignment for retrofire about 1 hour into the flight. Retrofire took place off the west coast of Africa, near Angola, about 8000 km from the desired landing place. The liquid fueled retros fired for about 42 seconds. Due to weight constraints there was no backup retro engine. The spacecraft carried 10 days of provisions to allow for survival and natural decay of the orbit in the event the retros failed. After retrofire, the Vostok equipment module unexpectedly remained attached to the reentry module by a bundle of wires. The two halves of the craft were supposed to separate ten seconds after retrofire, but this did not happen until 10 minutes had passed. The spacecraft went through wild gyrations before the wires burned through and the descent module settled into the proper reentry attitude. The FAI rules in 1961 required that a pilot must land with the spacecraft to be considered an official spaceflight for the FAI record books. At the time, the Soviet Union insisted that Gagarin had landed with the Vostok and the FAI certified the flight. Years later, it was revealed that Gagarin had ejected and landed separately from the Vostok descent module. When Soviet officials filled out the FAI papers to register the flight of Vostok 1, they stated that the launch site was "Baykonur" at . In reality, the launch site was near "Tyura-Tam" at , 250 km to the south west of "Baykonur". They did this to try to keep the location of the Space Center a secret. Ironically, in 1995, Russian and Kazakh officials renamed Tyura-Tam to Baikonur. The re-entry capsule is now on display at the RKK Energia Museum in Kaluga. Vostok (Восток) is Russian for East. This word also means "upward flow", or "upward movement", though this meaning is somewhat archaic.

Mission Timeline

- Wednesday, 12 April, 1961 Minutes before his launch, Yuri Gagarin recorded this statement, "Dear friends, known and unknown to me, my dear compatriots and all people of the world ! Within minutes from now, a mighty Soviet rocket will boost my ship into the vastness of outer space. What I want to tell you is this. My whole life is now before me as a single breathtaking moment. I feel I can muster up my strength for successfully carrying out what is expected of me."
- Countdown Begins Yuri Gagarin is in the Vostok 1 spacecraft on the launchpad. His television picture appears on tv screens in the launch control room from an onboard television camera. Sergei Korolev speaks into a microphone: " 'Dawn' calling 'Cedar' (Gagarin's call sign). The count down is about to start." Gagarin replied, "Roger. Feeling fine, excellent spirits, ready to go."
- 06:07 UTC Launch occurs from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, (Tyura-Tam ) in the Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. At ignition and liftoff, Sergei Korolev radios, "Preliminary stage..... intermediate..... main..... LIFT OFF! We wish you a good flight. Everything is all right." Gagarin replies, "Poyekhali! (Off we go!)"
- 06:09 UTC Two minutes into the flight and the four strap-on booster sections of the Vostok rocket have used up the last of their propellant, they shut down and drop away from the core vehicle. (T+ 119 s).
- 06:10 UTC The payload shroud covering Vostok 1 is released, this uncovers the window at Gagarin's feet with the Vzor optical orientation device. (T+ 156 s).
- 06:12 UTC Five minutes into the flight and the Vostok rocket core stage has used up its propellant, shuts down and falls away from the Vostok spacecraft and final rocket stage. The final rocket stage ignites to continue the journey to orbit. (T+ 300 s).
- 06:13 UTC The rocket is still firing, pushing Vostok 1 toward orbit. Gagarin reports, " .. the flight is continuing well. I can see the earth. The visibility is good. ... I almost see everything. There's a certain amount of space under cumulus cloud cover. I continue the flight, everything is good."
- 06:14 UTC The rocket continues to fire, starting to pass over central Russia now. Gagarin reports, "All is working very well. All systems are working. Let's keep going!"
- 06:15 UTC Three minutes into the burn of the final rocket stage and Gagarin reports, "Zarya-1, Zarya-1, I can't hear you very well. I feel fine. I'm in good spirits. I'm continuing the flight..... ." Vostok 1 is moving further downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. He is reporting back to "Zarya-1" (the Baikonur ground station) and must be starting to move out of radio range of that station.
- 06:17 UTC The Vostok rocket final stage shuts down, ten seconds later the spacecraft separates and Vostok 1 reaches orbit. (T+ 676 s). Gagarin reports, "The craft is operating normally. I can see Earth in the view port of the Vzor. Everything is proceeding as planned". Vostok 1 passes over Russia and moves on over Siberia.
- 06:21 UTC Vostok 1 passes over the Kamchatka peninsula and out over the North Pacific Ocean. Gagarin radios, "...the lights are on on the descent mode monitor. I'm feeling fine, and I'm in good spirits. Cockpit parameters: pressure 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in the compartment 1; first automatic 155; second automatic 155; pressure in the retro-rocket system 320 atmospheres...."
- 06:25 UTC As Vostok 1 begins its diagonal crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka peninsula to the southern tip of South America, Gagarin asks, "What can you tell me about the flight? What can you tell me?". He is requesting information about his orbital parameters. The ground station at Khabarovsk reports back, "There are no instructions from No. 20 (Sergei Korolev), and the flight is proceeding normally" They are telling Gagarin that they don't have his orbital parameters yet, but the spacecraft systems are performing well.
- 06:31 UTC Gagarin transmits to the Khabarovsk ground station, "I feel splendid, very well, very well, very well. Give me some results on the flight!". Vostok 1 is nearing the VHF radio horizon for Khabarovsk and they respond, "Repeat. I can't hear you very well". Gagarin transmits again, "I feel very good. Give me your data on the flight!" Vostok 1 passes out of VHF range of the Khabarovsk ground station and contact is lost.
- 06:37 UTC Vostok 1 continues on its journey as the sun sets over the North Pacific. Gagarin crosses into night, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Out of VHF range with ground stations, communications must now take place via HF radio.
- 06:46 UTC Khabarovsk ground station sends the message "KK" via telegraph (morse) code on HF radio to Vostok 1. This message means, "Report the monitoring of commands". They were asking Gagarin to report when the spacecraft automated descent system had received its instructions from the ground control. Gagarin reported back at 06:48 UTC.
- 06:48 UTC Vostok 1 crosses the equator at about 170° West, traveling in a south east direction and begins crossing the South Pacific. Gagarin transmits over HF radio, "I am transmitting the regular report message: 9 hours 48 minutes (Moscow Time), the flight is proceeding successfully. Spusk-1 is operating normally. The mobile index of the descent mode monitor is moving. Pressure in the cockpit is 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in the compartment 1.2 .... Manual 150; First automatic 155; second automatic 155; retro rocket system tanks 320 atmospheres. I feel fine...".
- 06:49 UTC Gagarin reports he is on the night side of earth.
- 06:51 UTC Gagarin reports the sun-seeking attitude control system had been switched on. The sun-seeking attitude control system is used to orient Vostok 1 for retrofire. The automated orientation system consisted of two redundant systems: an automatic/solar orientation system and a manual/visual orientation system. Either system could operate two redundant cold nitrogen gas thruster systems, each with 10 kg of gas.
- 06:53 UTC The Khabarovsk ground station sends Gagarin this message via HF radio, "By order of No.33 (General Nikolai Kamanin) the transmitters have been switched on, and we are transmitting this: the flight is proceeding as planned and the orbit is as calculated." They are telling Gagarin that Vostok 1 is in a stable orbit. He acknowledges the message.
- 06:57 UTC Vostok 1 is over the South Pacific between New Zealand and Chile when Gagarin sends this message, "....I'm continuing the flight, and I'm over America. I transmitted the telegraph signal "ON".
- 07:00 UTC Vostok 1 crosses the Straits of Magellan at the tip of South America. News of the Vostok 1 mission is broadcast on Radio Moscow.
- 07:04 UTC Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, similar to the one sent at 06:48. The message is not received by ground stations.
- 07:09 UTC Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, the message is not received by ground stations.
- 07:10 UTC Passing over the South Atlantic, the Sun rises and Vostok 1 is in daylight again. Vostok 1 is 15 minutes from retrofire.
- 07:13 UTC Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, similar to the one sent at 06:48. Moscow picks up this partial message from Gagarin, "I read you well. The flight is going...".
- 07:18 UTC Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, the message is not received by ground stations.
- 07:23 UTC Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, the message is not received by ground stations.
- 07:25 UTC Vostok 1 is in retrofire attitude. The retros are fired for about 42 seconds as the spacecraft nears Angola on the west coast of Africa. Retrofire takes place about 8,000 km from the planned landing point in Russia.
- 07:25 to 07:35 UTC Ten seconds after retrofire, commands are sent to separate the Vostok service module from the reentry module. One bundle of wires fails to release and the two sections of the spacecraft remain attached for another 10 minutes. Vostok 1 crosses the west coast of Africa and continues over central Africa heading toward Egypt.
- 07:35 UTC The two halves of the spacecraft begin reentry and go through wild gyrations as Vostok 1 nears Egypt. Finally, the wire bundle burns through and releases the reentry module. The reentry module automatically settles into the proper reentry attitude.
- 07:35 to 07:55 UTC Reentry continues over Egypt and out over the Mediterranean, near the west coast of Cyprus and then central Turkey. Finally over the Black Sea the Vostok 1 continues to slow down. Continuing to drop lower, Vostok 1 crosses back into the Soviet Union on the Black Sea coast near Krasnodar. Gagarin experiences 8 g's during reentry.
- 07:55 UTC Vostok 1 is still 7 km from the ground. The hatch is released and two seconds later Gagarin ejects from Vostok 1. At 2.5 km altitude, the main parachute is deployed from the Vostok spacecraft. Both he and the spacecraft land via parachute 26 km south west of Engels, in the Saratov region at 51° N 46° E, 1 hour and 48 minutes after liftoff. The Vostok 1 landed at 07:55 UTC. Gagarin, because his parachute opened at a much higher altitude than Vostok 1 (7 km vs. 2.5 km), landed at about 08:05 UTC. Two schoolgirls witness the Vostok landing and described the scene, "It was a huge ball, about two or three metres high. It fell, then it bounced and then it fell again. There was a huge hole where it hit the first time." A farmer and her daughter observed the strange scene of a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet landing near them via parachute. Gagarin later recalled, "When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging alongside as I walked, they started to back away in fear. I told them, don't be afraid, I am a Soviet like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!" .

References

- [http://www.astronautix.com/flights/vostok1.htm Vostok 1 - Encyclopedia Astronautica]
- [http://www.seds.org/spaceviews/960315.html Was Gagarin's Flight a near disaster? - Seds Spaceviews]
- [http://www.fai.org/sporting_code/sc08.pdf FAI Sporting Code - Section 8 - Astronautics]
- [http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Vostok1/Vostok1X.htm An analysis of the flight of Vostok (1) - Sven Grahn]
- [http://epizodsspace.testpilot.ru/bibl/i_tsk/zv-reis.html Annotated transcript of Gagarin's radio conversations with ground stations, starting 2hrs (4:10 UTC) before launch] (in Russian) Category:Human spaceflights Category:Vostok programme

April 12

April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). There are 263 days remaining.

Events

- 467 - Anthemius is elevated to Emperor of the Western Roman Empire
- 1606 - The Union Jack is adopted as the national flag of Great Britain.
- 1633 - The formal interrogation by the Inquisition of Galileo Galilei begins.
- 1861 - American Civil War: The war begins with Confederate forces firing on Fort Sumter, in the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Fort Pillow massacre -- Confederate forces under General Nathan Bedford Forrest kill most of the African American soldiers who had surrendered at Fort Pillow, Tennessee
- 1865 - American Civil War: Mobile, Alabama, falls to the Union Army.
- 1877 - The United Kingdom annexes the Transvaal.
- 1923 - Kandersteg International Scout Centre came into existence.
- 1926 - By a vote of 45 to 41, the United States Senate unseats Iowa Senator Smith W. Brookhart and seats Daniel F. Steck, after Brookhart had already served for over one year.
- 1937 - Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at the British Thomson-Houston factory in Rugby, England
- 1945 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies, and Harry S. Truman is inaugurated as the 33rd President of the United States.
- 1946 - Syria gains independence from France.
- 1954 - Bill Haley and His Comets record "Rock Around the Clock" in New York City. Initially unsuccessful, the recording would help launch the Rock and Roll revolution a year later.
- 1955 - The polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk, is declared safe and effective.
- 1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man to fly in space.
- 1968 - Nerve gas accident at Skull Valley, Utah.
- 1975 - Khmer Rouge troops capture Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
- 1980 - Terry Fox began his trans-Canada marathon to raise money for cancer research (Marathon of Hope) by dipping his artificial leg in the Atlantic Ocean at St. John's, Newfoundland, aiming to dip it again in the Pacific Ocean at Vancouver, British Columbia.
- 1981 - The first launch of a Space Shuttle: Columbia launches on the STS-1 mission.
- 1984- LiSARS is created
- 1989 - TV Show Fast Forward starts on The ATN-7 Network (Australia).
- 1990 - Christian Bernard, F.R.C., becomes Imperator of AMORC.
- 1992 - Euro Disneyland opens in Marne-la-Vallee, France.
- 1994 - Canter & Siegel post the first commercial mass Usenet spam.
- 1998 - Catastrophical earthquake in Slovenia in Posočje 5,6 on the Richter scale.
- 2002 - Coup d'Etat against Hugo Chávez in Venezuela.
- 2005 - In Canada, a motion by the opposition Conservative Party to kill legislation opening the door for legalized same sex marriage is defeated 164-132.

Births

599 BC to 1899

- 599 BC - Mahavira, Indian founder of Jainism (d. 527 BC)
- 812 - Muhammad at-Taqi, Arabian Shia Imam (d. 835)
- 1484 - Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Italian architect (d. 1546)
- 1500 - Joachim Camerarius, German classical scholar (d. 1574)
- 1526 - Muretus, French humanist (d. 1585)
- 1550 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, English politician (d. 1604)
- 1577 - King Christian IV of Denmark (d. 1648)
- 1713 - Guillaume Thomas François Raynal, French writer (d. 1796)
- 1722 - Pietro Nardini, Italian composer (d. 1793)
- 1724 - Lyman Hall, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1790)
- 1726 - Charles Burney, English music historian (d. 1814)
- 1748 - Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, French botanist (d. 1836)
- 1777 - Henry Clay, American statesman and five-time Presidential candidate (d. 1852)
- 1799 - Henri Druey, Swiss Federal Councilor (d. 1855)
- 1823 - Alexandr Ostrovsky, Russian dramatist (d. 1886)
- 1839 - Nikolai Przhevalsky, Russian explorer (d. 1888)
- 1856 - William Martin Conway, English art critic and mountaineer (d. 1937)
- 1869 - Henri Désiré Landru, French serial killer (d. 1922)
- 1884 - Otto Meyerhof, German-born biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1951)
- 1887 - Harold Lockwood, American silent film actor (d. 1918)
- 1888 - Heinrich Neuhaus, Soviet pianist (d. 1964)
- 1892 - Johnny Dodds, American jazz clarinetist (d. 1940)
- 1893 - Robert Harron, American actor (d. 1920)
- 1898 - Lily Pons, American soprano (d. 1976)

1900 to 1999

- 1902 - Louis Beel, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1977)
- 1903 - Sally Rand, American dancer and actress (d. 1979)
- 1903 - Jan Tinbergen, Dutch economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
- 1907 - Felix de Weldon, Austrian-born sculptor (d. 2003)
- 1908 - Lionel Hampton, American musician (d. 2002)
- 1912 - Walt Gorney, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1916 - Beverly Cleary, American writer
- 1917 - Helen Forrest, American singer (d. 1999)
- 1922 - Tiny Tim, American musician (d. 1996)
- 1923 - Ann Miller, American actress and dancer (d. 2004)
- 1928 - Hardy Krüger, German actor
- 1928 - Jean-François Paillard, French conductor
- 1932 - Dennis Banks, American activist
- 1932 - Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan Politician (assassinated) (d. 2005)
- 1933 - Montserrat Caballé, Catalan soprano
- 1939 - Alan Ayckbourn, English writer
- 1940 - Herbie Hancock, American pianist and composer
- 1941 - Bobby Moore, English footballer (d. 1993)
- 1944 - John Kay, German-born musician (Steppenwolf)
- 1946 - Ed O'Neill, American actor
- 1947 - Tom Clancy, American author
- 1947 - David Letterman, American talk show host
- 1948 - Jeremy Beadle, British television presenter
- 1948 - Joschka Fischer, Foreign Minister of Germany
- 1948 - Sandra "Lois" Reeves, American singer (Martha & the Vandellas)
- 1949 - Scott Turow, American writer
- 1950 - David Cassidy, American singer and actor
- 1950 - Kari Palaste, Finnish architect
- 1952 - Ralph Wiley, American sports journalist (d. 2004)
- 1954 - Pat Travers, Canadian musician
- 1956 - Andy Garcia, Cuban-born actor
- 1956 - Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer, pianist, and actor
- 1957 - Vince Gill, American musician
- 1961 - Lisa Gerrard, Australian singer and film composer
- 1962 - Art Alexakis, American musician (Everclear)
- 1964 - Amy Ray, American musician (Indigo Girls)
- 1970 - Nick Hexum, American musician (311)
- 1971 - Nicholas Brendon, actor
- 1971 - Shannen Doherty, American actress
- 1978 - Guy Berryman, British musician (Coldplay)
- 1978 - Riley Smith, American actor
- 1979 - Claire Danes, American actress
- 1979 - Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer
- 1982 - Deen, Bosnian singer
- 1985 - Hitomi Yoshizawa, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)

Deaths

65 to 1899

- 65 - Seneca the Younger, Roman philosopher, statesman and dramatist
- 238 - Gordian I, Roman Emperor (suicide)
- 238 - Gordian II, heir to the Roman Empire (killed in battle)
- 1443 - Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1550 - Claude, Duke of Guise, French soldier (b. 1496)
- 1555 - Juana of Castile, queen of Philip I of Castile (b. 1479)
- 1687 - Ambrose Dixon, Virginia Colony pioneer
- 1704 - Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, French bishop and writer (b. 1627)
- 1748 - William Kent, English architect
- 1782 - Metastasio, Italian poet and librettist (b. 1698)
- 1788 - Carlo Antonio Campioni, French-born composer (b. 1719)
- 1795 - Johann Kaspar Basselet von La Rosée, Bavarian general (b. 1710)
- 1814 - Charles Burney, English music historian (b. 1726)
- 1850 - Adoniram Judson, American Baptist missionary (b. 1788)

1900 to 1999

- 1912 - Clara Barton, American nurse and Red Cross advocate (b. 1821)
- 1938 - Feodor Chaliapin, Russian bass (b. 1873)
- 1945 - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (b. 1882)
- 1962 - Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, Indian politician and engineer (b. 1861)
- 1971 - Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1895)
- 1975 - Josephine Baker, American dancer (b. 1906)
- 1980 - Clark McConachy, New Zealand billiards and snooker player (b. 1895)
- 1980 - William R. Tolbert, Jr., President of Liberia (b. 1913)
- 1981 - Joe Louis, American boxer (b. 1914)
- 1986 - Valentin Kataev, Russian writer (b. 1897)
- 1988 - Alan Paton, South African novelist (b. 1903)
- 1989 - Gerald Flood, British actor (b. 1927)
- 1989 - Abbie Hoffman, American radical leader (b. 1936)
- 1989 - Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (b. 1921)
- 1997 - George Wald, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- 1999 - Boxcar Willie, American singer (b. 1931)

2000 onwards

- 2003 - Cecil H. Green, American manufacturer (b. 1900)

Holidays and observances

- The Roman holiday of Cerealia begins.
- Yuri's Night, an international celebration of the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin.
- Easter, 1998

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisd