Today in Technology History
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September 11
Today's date is shared as a birthday by a cosmonaut and an astronaut.
On September 11, 1935, Gherman Titov was born in the Russian village of Verkhnie Zhilino. He became a military pilot, and was picked in 1960 to be one of the original cosmonauts. He almost became the first person launched into space, but Soviet authorities instead chose Yuri Gagarin at the last moment.
In August 1961, Titov became the second person to orbit the Earth, and the third person in space. (American Alan Shepard launched into space between Gagarin and Titov, but he did not orbit the Earth.) Titov orbited the Earth 17 times over the course of a day.
Titov was only 25 when he made his historic spaceflight; no one younger than him has ever been in space. After his flight, he became a test pilot and eventually a member of the Russian parliament. He died a year ago, aged 65.
Two years after Titov was born, Robert Laurel Crippen was born on September 11, 1937. He trained as a naval aviator and served as an attack pilot flying from an aircraft carrier. He was selected to be an astronaut in 1969.
Crippen was the pilot for NASA's first space shuttle mission in 1981. Crippen and one other astronaut orbited the Earth for over two days in the shuttle Columbia, their main objective being to test all the shuttle's systems. Crippen served as a commander for three subsequent shuttle missions, and later helped direct shuttle operations as a NASA administrator. He now works in the American defense industry.
Related links:
Click here to read an obituary for Titov.
Click here to read a log of Titov's missions.
Click here to read a biography of Crippen.
Click here to read about STS-1, the first shuttle mission.
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