Gagarin's glitch-prone historic flight

Yuri Gagarin would have if it were subject to today's safety standards spacecraft, Vostok 1, were grounded. Due to an error start Gagarin break on atmospheric engine failure, had to use if he would have died in the orbit.

Yuri Gagarin's was plagued first space flight with technical problems and his ship would never have left it would have the ground subject to today's safety standards, a top rocket scientist said Friday.

"During Gagarin's flight there were about 11 criticisms and abnormal situations different different levels of complexity," veteran of Soviet rocket scientist Boris Chertok said, the Interfax news agency reported.

Problems began, when it was discovered ship Gagarin too much in his space suit, weighed 14 kilograms (30 pounds) Chertok, 99, said the brilliant with the ship's designer, Sergei Korolev, worked on the locations of design, which created the Vostok.

To facilitate the load, they decided, some of the cable cut off, but accidentally cut connections with pressure and temperature sensors, Chertok said at a meeting of the State space ship constructors, Energia speak.

A potentially fatal error started the rocket Gagarin's ship in slightly the wrong orbit, with the minimum and maximum distances from the Earth is a few kilometres out.

The difference meant that the engines failed and Gagarin to land with atmospheric braking required, his ship not a week again but a month calculated, would have. He had only food for 10 days, said Chertok.

The first manned space flight was 50 years ago, after animals on two flights to orbit in Vostok vehicles to be sent and after only two successful unmanned launches of new modified died in March 1961.

"The Council Chief Designer and the State Commission decided that it was possible to send the ship into space, with a man on board after only two normal unmanned flights" Chertok said.

"If we then to calculate the reliability had thought of the ship according to modern standards, we would have never sent a man up."

Gagarin landed 600 kilometres (370 km) deviation from the target value and even as he landed wrong run things is - he had problems opening the ventilation on his helmet and his spare parachute open unnecessarily.

The fact that Gagarin ejected and landed with a parachute, rather than within the capsule to touchdown, remains a secret was kept, confessed Chertok.

"The fact that he in his parachute and not in the landing capsule to earth return a very large State secret for various reasons was", he said. "God forbid that someone mentioned it at a press conference."

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