Man in Space

The exact date of this episode is unknown. We've filled in the date above with a placeholder. What we actually have on record is: 1961-uu-uu.

This program produced by Radio Moscow recounts the first manned spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin on April 12th, 1961 aboard the Vostok 1. The recording includes audio from his first transmission, reflections, and tributes from Nikita Khrushchev and other scientists and a short history of the Soviet space program. A reporter reads an interview with Gagarin describing his experience completing this mission.

This is followed by a translated panel of "two scientists and an engineer [speaking] about such difficulties of manned space flight as the strains at take off, the state of weightlessness in orbital flight, and reentry."

The program concludes with a profile of Yuri Gagarin's family and their reactions during his mission.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 150821
Municipal archives id: T7897