Konstantin Feoktstov

In 5 of May it only is that the North Americans had launched Alan Shepard, its first man to the space, on board the Mercury-1 ship and, still thus, in a flight of but 15 minutes of duration, therefore the small used Redstone rocket did not have power to stimulate the ship the altitudes biggest, in order to keep it in orbit (SHEPARD & SLAYTON, 1994). Although this shy space flight and of little duration president John F. Kennedy was livened up in such way that days later one of its more famous speeches pronounced, affirming that he was imperious that the United States if became the first nation to place men in the Moon and promising that before the end of the decade of 1960 they would obtain such fact. It was, in such a way, initiated the race to the Moon between United States and Soviet Union (GAVIN, 2008). . Few months later went up to the space Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov, who became the first man to more than remain 24 hours in the space (and also the first one to sleep in the space). In 1962, where the Americans had obtained to place its first man in orbit, the Russians had year launched to the space the ships Vostok-3 and 4, respectively with Adrian Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich on board.

These had been the first ones manned ships to carry through simultaneous flights in the space, fact also ovacionado by the world-wide press. In 1963 it only is that an American, the astronaut Gordon Cooper, for more than remained 24 hours in the space, on board its Mercury-9 ship. In the same year the Soviet Union sent Valentina Tereshkova on board the Vostok-6 ship, becoming it first woman to travel to the space (SPACEFACTS, 2010). During all the year of 1964 the only manned ship to fly was the Voskhod-1 Soviet with Vladimir Komarov, Boris Iegorov and Konstantin Feoktstov on board, being this first espaonave to lead three men to the space.