Gagarin

Striking views of Earth captured in time-lapse video

The scientists aboard the International Space Station "have the best view in the solar system," videographer Alex Rivest says. Maybe that is why he created this time-lapse video of exactly what the scientists see so people around the world can also gaze at the same view.

Hovering close to Earth and completing 15 orbits per day, the ISS provides dozens of photos and videos of the views it records -- the same stunning scenes captured in Rivest's video. The habitable satellite tracks rolling scenes of the multi-colored planet with images of long winding rivers, high mountain ranges, … Read more

Manned space travel, from Gagarin to SpaceX

The anniversaries this week of the first man in space and the launch of NASA's first space shuttle missions come at time when commercial spacecraft are ushering in a new era of space flight.

Thursday was the 51st anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's 108-minute orbit around the Earth, an event that shocked the world and ratcheted up the speed of the Cold War-fed space race.

And 31 years ago on April 12, the space shuttle Columbia lifted off, the inaugural flight of NASA's shuttle program which drew to a close last year.

Astronauts from different countries on the … Read more

50 years ago, John Glenn became America's biggest hero

As far as the United States was concerned, John Glenn's Feb. 20, 1962, flight aboard Friendship 7 could not have been more important.

Less than a year earlier, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first human in space, and by the time of Glenn's launch, Americans Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom had already made their way into the heavens, if only briefly.

But with his 4 hour, 56 minute flight, Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, doing so three times at an altitude of up to 162 statute miles and speeds of up to … Read more

Intricate watch commemorates first man in space

In case you didn't know, today marks the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's journey into space. The Russian cosmonaut became the first man to orbit the earth on April 12, 1961. A high-end luxury watch called the Gagarin Tourbillon celebrates that great day in history with a delightfully complex design.

The highlight is the flying tourbillon, an intricate mechanical device that keeps time in more expensive watches. Unlike in other mechanical watches, this tourbillon doesn't stay in one place, but "orbits" around the watch dial, which bears the names of places and cities Gagarin passed in his Vostok-1 spacecraft back in 1961.

As a bonus for Gagarin fans and horologists, the tourbillon takes exactly 108 minutes to make a complete revolution around the watch face, the time that the cosmonaut stayed in orbit around the earth. Swiss designer Bernhard Lederer also threw in a magnifying glass to closely observe the intricate movements of the tourbillon mechanism.

If you want to see The Gagarin Tourbillon in action--trust us, it's worth it--check out the promotional video below. … Read more

Space leaders, crew mark Gagarin anniversary

The crew of the International Space Station joined Russian leaders and space officials, their NASA counterparts, and international partners around the world to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's launch on April 12, 1961, to become the first human in space.

"In the 20th century, it has become the most extraordinary event, the most significant event not only in Russia but the whole world and we're very proud of the fact that the first cosmonaut went into space on April 12, 1961, and he was our compatriot," Anatoly Perminov, director general of the Russian space … Read more

Celebrating 50 years since Yuri Gagarin's 'Let's Go!'

"They've got a man up there. It's Gagarin."

With those fictionalized words (see video below), spoken by actor Jeff Goldblum in Philip Kaufman's terrific 1983 screen adaptation of Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff," millions of viewers were ushered into the era of manned space flight.

Goldblum's harried alert to a roomful of top American policymakers represents just a little of the reaction in the United States to what happened 50 years ago today, on April 12, 1961, when 27-year-old Flight Major Yuri Gagarin, who was born on a collective farm west of Moscow … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1445: We have lasers (Podcast)

The U.S. Navy demonstrates how it can set a boat on fire remotely using a laser. Which is super awesome as a video, and slightly terrifying as a demonstration of future military capabilities. Also, Steve Jobs finally agrees to an authorized biography, Sony blinks in the George Hotz PS3 jailbreaking lawsuit, smart phone users are wasting hundreds of dollars a year, and Facebook is working on its latest venture: the Socialist Network. --Molly

Yuri's Night at NASA celebrates the spirit of exploration

Hundreds of people at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., joined revelers around the world Saturday night for Yuri's Night, an annual worldwide party to celebrate Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space on April 12, 1961, and honor the spirit of exploration and innovation in art and culture. The two-day celebration at NASA Ames featured an all-day Friday educational event with speakers and seminars, followed by the all-day Saturday festival put on by Symbiosis with art installations and music on the NASA tarmac. Take a look at the panorama to get a feel for … Read more

Gadget report from Yuri's Night at NASA

There was an amazing party last Friday at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., celebrating the anniversary of the first human spaceflight, which was made by Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin. While CNET News.com has already penned a great article on the event, I thought I'd add my two cents on some of the cool gadgets I spotted at the party.

Peter Foucault's drawing robots drew a steady crowd the entire night. These two little robots had Sharpie pens mounted on them and were contained within what looked like a little robot boxing ring. Only … Read more