The flight of Yuri Gagarin into space contributed to the development of many technologies, including the emergence of the Internet, said the head of the American non-governmental organization Planetary Society, popularizer of science Bill Nye, speaking at an event dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the first manned flight into space.
According to him, it was this event that “had the strongest impact on the world,” and the rivalry between the USSR and the United States in the space industry contributed to the development of many technologies, including the emergence of the Internet.
“The Internet exists today because of the space race, because of [полета] Yuri Gagarin, ”he said.
Nye recalled that in the coming days NASA plans to conduct on Mars the first flight tests of the Ingenuity helicopter, delivered to the Red Planet aboard the Perseverance rover, and this, too, would not have happened without the “space race” and Gagarin’s flight, Nye pointed out. According to him, Gagarin had to have “outstanding courage” to decide to fly.
The Planetary Society was founded in 1980 by American scientists Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray and Louis Friedman. It is currently one of the world’s largest organizations promoting space exploration. Planetary Society representatives interact with US federal authorities, NASA, and US lawmakers.
April 12 is celebrated in Russia as Cosmonautics Day. On this day in 1961, the Vostok rocket with the spaceship of the same name with the pilot Yuri Gagarin on board was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
Earlier, on April 9, a Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with a spacecraft named after Yuri Gagarin was launched from the Baikonur launch site, and then the spacecraft docked to the ISS, carrying two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut.
The launch was carried out on the eve of the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s orbital flight, in connection with which the Soyuz spacecraft was named Yu.A. Gagarin “. This inscription is applied to the hull of the ship.