Today is the 50th anniversary of the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. And here's some articles about it.
Wired's This Day In Tech:
http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/04/0412soviet-cosmonaut-yuri-gagarin-orbits/Soviet Space Propaganda: Doctored Cosmonaut Photos:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/soviet-space-propaganda/?pid=1181&viewall=trueARISSat-1 to be Activated Aboard ISS Starting April 11
The ARISSat-1 satellite, presently still inside the ISS, will be turned on and use an external antenna to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first manned space flight. The transmissions will begin on Monday 11 April 2011 at 14:30 UTC and continue until 10:30 UTC on 13 April 2011.
Due to the fact that the solar panels are covered, the satellite will be powered only by the onboard battery. The satellite will run in low power mode. This means that the transmissions will cycle ON/OFF. They will be ON for 40-60 seconds and OFF for 2 minutes.
145.950 MHz FM Downlink:
FM transmissions will cycle between a voice ID, select telemetry values, 24 international greeting messages in 15 languages and SSTV images. One of the messages will be a conversation between Yuri Gagarin and ground control.I just programmed my Yaesu FT-530 in hopes of hearing something today.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.phpHuman Spaceflight's 50th: a Q&A with David Baker who worked for NASA from 1965 to 1984 and has published 80 books, including his latest, The Space Shuttle Owner's Workshop Manual, in the format of a Chilton's manual.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/human_spaceflight_david_baker/all/1http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/shuttle-manual-excerpt/all/1