Five Decades of Secrets, Lies, and Half-Truths From Space Agencies
Backlash Skepticism abounded after Yuri Gagarin's historic flight, but Moscow refused to release details. NASA/Dan TuffsFifty years after the first man went to space, what corporate spaceflight can learn from Yuri Gagarin Human spaceflight was once a race between entire nations, each marshalling their resources to accomplish the nearly impossible. Now, it's a contest between small corporate teams, such as SpaceX, which projects it will launch a manned vehicle in a very few years. These companies' first manned missions could set the tone for private spaceflight's relationship with the public. Before they lift off, they could learn a lot from how the USSR handled (and mishandled) the first man in space. On April 12, 1961, the United States awoke to the news of the successful space flight of Russian "cosmonaut" (a recently coined Russian word) Yuri Gagarin. Television broadcasts showed exuberant crowds filling the streets in Moscow before cutting to...