Model, Spacecraft, Vostok: 1/24

A child's toy, a model of a spacecraft, would not seem to be significant in the history of aerospace technology. However, this model marks a milestone in the secret world of the Soviet space program and its release almost eight years after the 1961 first flight of the Vostok is significant as it indicates who was watching the technical details about spacecraft most closely.

This Revell model of Yuri Gagarin's Vostok spacecraft came out on the market in 1969. It reflects the latest and most complete knowledge in the west of the Soviet hardware.

An American collector donated this model kit to the museum.

A child's toy, a model of a spacecraft, would not seem to be significant in the history of aerospace technology. However, this model marks a milestone in the road to secrecy in the Soviet space program and its release almost eight years after the first flight of the Vostok is significant as it indicates who was watching the technical details about spacecraft most closely.

After his flight around the Earth, Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin immediately embarked on a world tour. Immediately after his flight, in 1962, John Glenn's spacecraft went on world tour that was known as the fourth orbit of Friendship 7. NASA and the State Department arranged for the spacecraft to be exhibited throughout the world as a demonstration of American technical expertise and openness. That is the fundamental difference between the publicity over the Vostok and Mercury flights. There was a reason for this secrecy. Because the Vostok could not be slowed adequately to assure the cosmonaut's safety, Gagarin ejected from the spacecraft at just over 20,000 feet above the Earth. This skirted the requirement of the International Aeronautical Federation (IAF) that the pilot and his craft land together in order to be recognized as the first man in space. Throughout the Vostok program, the details about the final minutes of Gagarin's flight were vague, even after second man in space, German Titov, had described the parachute and ejection system shortly after his own flight in August 1961. Titov's revelations actually led to an American challenge to his claim for the flight duration record and an attempt to impose John Glenn's record as the long duration flight.

Even through all of this, official Soviet statements about Gagarin's flight remained ambiguous and they published no detailed photographs, nor did they publicly display flown Vostok spacecraft until after they were through with the Vostok hardware for human spaceflight missions in 1965. It was not until immediately prior to the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft that details about the Vostok came out, and then it was in comparison to the new and maneuverable Soyuz.

This Revell model came out on the market in 1969. It reflects the latest and most complete knowledge in the west of the Soviet hardware.

An American collector donated this model kit to the museum.