YOUR GUIDE TO SPACE
VOSTOK I : THE BEGINNING
BEAUTIFUL DANCING LIGHTS
THE FIRST MAN IN SPACE
As Space industry has evolved with discovery of new technologies, exploring our universe has become a vital part of a developing nation/society. Making others aware with this information and new discovery can ensure an allrounder development. Knowledge about New missions of different Government and private aerospace sector will inspire younger generation to choose it as a career option. Apply the theoretical knowledge in practically watching its effect on the universe helps to understand and visualize the knowledge in a more personal way.
Team Astrophile publishes this knowledge in its own magazine, podcasts, info flyers and via social media too. We make it easily accessible for the common readers. Our magazine contains special sections for different astronomical phenomenon, which people watch but aren't’aware of, such as different constellation and identifying stars and planets.
A special section in our magazine is devoted to the art in the field of astronomy. Different digital pictures or space photography is encouraged and published in the magazine. Different and innovative ideas are discussed in the podcast, and this podcast is an open platform where students can express their ideas and share them with others. Our Podcasts mainly holds discussion on different theory and ideas which are in use in day-to-day life. Students are welcomed to have a talk on this kind of theories in astrophysics and astronomy.
We participate in different competitions related to space sciences and astrophysics. We mainly participate in IAAC (International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition) globally and rocketry competitions organized by different organizations all over India.
The first manned mission of the Vostok was precededbyfiveyearsofdevelopmentwork. Outof seven unmanned prototypes of the Vostok spacecraft flown during 1960 and 1961, two spacecraftdidnotreachorbitduetofailuresoftheir launchvehiclesandtwoshipsdidnotcompleteall theirtaskswhileinorbit.
Before launching Gagarin into the space, the U.S.S.R.performedatestmissionusingaprototype of the Vostok I along with a dog and a man-size dummy.
Gagarin's launch vehicle blasted off into the cloudless blue sky almost as scheduled, just a fractionofasecondbefore 09:07 MoscowTimeon April12,1961.
The rocket that blasted Vostok 1 and Yuri Gagarin intoorbitwasderivedfromtheSovietUnion’sR-7 IntercontinentalBallisticMissile,orICBM.Originally designedtolaunchnukesattheUnitedStates, the rocketwasrepurposedtohandlehumancargo.
Vostok 1 consisted of a pressurized sphere just 2 meterswide, alongwithanequipmentmodulethat housedelectronicsandthethrustersthatwouldbe usedtobringthevehiclebacktoEarth.
Gagarin launched from what is now the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. At that point the site wasnamedTyratamafteranearbyrailstation. The pad where Vostok 1 blasted off is now named Gagarin’s Start and is still used for crewed Soyuz launches. This marked mans cruise to the infinite space - Om Topale (T.E. Automobile)
Name :
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin
Born : Died :
9March1934
27March1968
Gagarin was a senior lieutenant in the Soviet air force when the government selected him and 19 other pilots to join the first cosmonaut training program. HewaseventuallychosenfortheVostok 1 flightduetohisskillandthefactthathewasshort (5’2”), whichallowedhimtofitmoreeasilyintohis crampedcapsule. Mostoftheflightwasautomated, thoughGagarin had the ability to take manual control of his spacecraftinanemergency.
Though not all things went well according to the plan, themoduledidnotfullyseparateandwasleft attachedtoGagarin’scapsulebyastrandofwires. TheextraweightthrewGagarinintoaspin, causing him to experience 8 Gs of force—far more than expectedduringanormalflight.Asatrainedfighter jet pilot, he was able to maintain consciousness untilthewiresholdingontotheequipmentmodule brokefree,stabilizinghisdescent.
At about 7 km above the Earth, Gagarin ejected from Vostok 1 & parachuted to the ground. The history-makingvoyageonlylasted 106 minutesbut itchangedthewayhumanslookupatthestars.
Here we bring you the astronomical arts & photographs from students & members
KNOW YOUR STARS BETTER!!
It's been a while since someone has seen a UFO or a flying saucer, considering people saw them weren't delusional. People do believe somewhere far in the universe there is a life form similar to us. But should we believe it too? Should we make an assumption that we aren't alone in the universe?
Before that we should know what to consider as life form, a system which can reproduce and adapt new skill to survive and an advance mechanism to carry this task out. But as Stephen Hawking stated in his book that we can consider a computer virus as a life form, as it copies itself to different systems and sustains on a host. Even though, if we ever find an intelligent life form, we need to ensure if it is hostile or friendly. But for the fun of the topic, let's consider another possibility that an advance life form found us.
We have a vast galaxy and even to travel a single light-year we need a huge amount of energy and as they found us it would seem like they know how to harvest every single amount of energy in their solar system. But do we consider this life form hostile ? As this advanced life has harvested its resources, they would need some other system to sustain on it, to harvest energy from it and to reproduce the same life form. Considering this kind of scenario, we are left with limited amount of possibilities. Most favorable is to have a truce. For example, as we know that the first life form emerged from the water on earth, we can make the assumption that they to have had a similar life cycle. So by sending a small amount of water to them would lead to be a symbol of truce. But this situation will become worse, as we provide more water to them, we hardly get enough for ourselves. Due to this type of issues most of renowned scientists already said, not to search for any intelligent life form.
But still, finding a peaceful life form would be the greatest discovery of all time. But firstly, we need to figure out how to save our civilization in case some other life form finds us. Let's keep our hope up and advance forward to make our planet a better place to sustain forever. Let's try to minimize the amount of pollution, to keep our oceans clean, and to make our flora and fauna much more rich.
- Vibhanshu Hire (T.E. Mechanical)
ASX Stargazing Night at Bhor
ASX Stargazing Night at Temghar Dam, Lavasa Road
Jayant Naralikar Astronomer Talk at IUCAA Open Day
Team ASX & Team Astrophile
Gazing Nights & Astrophotography
