Heros Of The Working People

You might, or rather might not, have wondered why I changed my profile picture on social media four times these last ten days.

It has something to do with the first cosmonaut of Danish heritage, Andreas Mogensen, who just returned safely to Earth after a visit to the, boringly named, International Space Station.

The images are some of the icons of the Soviet space program, from top left clockwise Sergei Pavlovich Korolev – designer of the Soviet rockets that is the foundation of the Soyuz Andreas Mogensen flew, Laika – the first living being launched into space by humans, Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov – the first human to perform a EVA (spacewalk) and Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova – the first woman, and civilian, to have flown in space.

I grew up with the spacerace in the 1960ies and if anyone had told us that the first human of Danish heritage in space would be a cosmonaut flying in Soviet rockets we would probably have laughed.

It’s interesting to note that Arthur C. Clarke had foreseen a future of cooperation in space similiar to what we se to day in the book and movie 2001, space exploration is way too costly, and the International Space Station is a testament to excatly that, peaceful cooperation between adversaries, I thoght the Russians were the bad guys?

Now if we could only get the Chinese aboard.

References

Андреас Энеуолль Могенсен (англ. Andreas Enevold Mogensen; род. 2 ноября 1976, Копенгаген, Дания) — астронавт ЕКА, первый астронавт — гражданин Дании[1] и 544-й космонавт мира, доктор философии. 2 сентября 2015 года в качестве бортинженера-1 транспортного пилотируемого корабля «Союз ТМА-18М» и экспедиции посещения ЭП-18 стартовал с космодрома Байконур к Международной космической станции.

Википедия contributors, “Могенсен, Андреас,” Википедия, свободная энциклопедия, http://ru.wikipedia.org/?oldid=73244457 (accessed сентября 12, 2015).

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (Russian: Серге́й Па́влович Королёв; IPA: [sʲɪrˈgʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf], Ukrainian: Сергі́й Па́влович Корольо́в, Serhiy Pavlovych Korolyov, also transliterated as Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov; 12 January [O.S. 30 December 1906] 1907 – 14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer in the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1950s and 1960s. He is considered by many as the father of practical astronautics.

Wikipedia contributors, “Sergei Korolev,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sergei_Korolev&oldid=672293804 (accessed September 12, 2015).

Laika (Russian: Лайка; c. 1954 – November 3, 1957) was a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space, and the first animal to orbit the Earth. Laika, a stray dog from the streets of Moscow, was selected to be the occupant of the Soviet spacecraft Sputnik 2 that was launched into outer space on November 3, 1957.

Wikipedia contributors, “Laika,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Laika&oldid=680429457 (accessed September 12, 2015).

Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov (Russian: Алексе́й Архи́пович Лео́нов; IPA: [ɐlʲɪˈksʲej ɐˈrxʲipəvʲɪtɕ lʲɪˈonəf]; born 30 May 1934 in Listvyanka, West Siberian Krai, Soviet Union) is a retired Soviet/Russian cosmonaut and Air Force Major General. On 18 March 1965, he became the first human to conduct extra-vehicular activity (EVA), exiting the capsule during the Voskhod 2 mission for a 12-minute spacewalk.

Wikipedia contributors, “Alexey Leonov,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexey_Leonov&oldid=667662194 (accessed September 12, 2015).

Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва; IPA: [vɐlʲɪnʲˈtʲinə vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvnə tʲɪrʲɪʂˈkovə]; born 6 March 1937) is the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. In order to join the Cosmonaut Corps, Tereshkova was honorarily inducted into the Soviet Air Force and thus she also became the first civilian to fly in space.

Wikipedia contributors, “Valentina Tereshkova,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valentina_Tereshkova&oldid=678010614 (accessed September 12, 2015).

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