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The untold story of Yuri Gagarin

Video

A documentary by Russia Today (RT) on the life and accomplishments of Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the Cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first human to successfully travel to outer space.

The documentary covers his humble birth, the Gagarin family’s struggles and survival with German occupation during World War Two, Yuri’s love of music, fascination for flying and the many struggles in life. Many of Yuri Gagarin’s surviving friends, colleagues and family were interviewed to provide a personal touch to the film. It also provides a glimpse into (the harsh) life in the Soviet Union during peak of the Communist state and the Cold War.

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Pictures

Craters on the asteroid Vesta

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Vesta is one of the largest asteroids in our Solar System and has been the subject of study by JPL’s Dawn mission.

Vesta - NASA
Twin impact craters on the Vesta asteroid

The surface of Vesta is pockmarked with impact craters. The two pictured above range from about 20 kilometers and 6 kilometers in diameter and are found in Vesta’s Urbinia quadrangle. This image was taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, through the clear filter of its framing camera on December 18, 2011. Dawn was about 260 kilometers from the surface and in the low-altitude mapping orbit phase of its mission mission to study this asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres.

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Pictures

Galileo spacecraft deployed by STS-34

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NASA’s Galileo spacecraft was built by JPL and launched by the Atlantis space shuttle (STS-34) in October 1989 with a mission to explore Jupiter and its moons.

Galileo
Galileo in the Atlantis space shuttle bay

Here the Galileo spacecraft, mounted on the inertial upper stage (IUS) rises above the airborne support equipment (ASE) as it is brought into position by Atlantis’ Orbiter Vehicle’s payload bay.

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Stars from the Aquarius constellation

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Aquarius
Stars from the constellation of Aquarius

Skylab was Americas’s first manned space station where astronauts performed numerous experiments. As part of the Skylab 3 mission in 1973, this picture of stars from the Aquarius constellation was taken during their Zodiacal Light/Gegenschein experiments. A 35mm camera was used with a six minute exposure; pointing out into space through Skylab’s anti-solar scientific airlock, within its Orbital Workshop (OWS).

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Pictures

Hematite found on Mars

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Hematite Mineral
The mineral Hematite found on Mars in spherical nodules

Hematite is a mineral form of iron oxide (Fe2O3) requiring large amounts of water or volcanic activity to develop and is often used in jewelry.  This picture taken by Mars Opportunity rover shows hematite spherules, also referred to as “blueberries”, on the red planet. These hematite spherules are all over the surface of Mars, north of the Victoria Crater.

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