Posted: Aug 31, 2006 07:04 pm EDT
(Pythom.com) When 5-time Everest summiteer Luis Benitez shared his favorite stops around the world a few weeks back, he mentioned one of the "Seven Summits" - Elbrus in Kazakhstan - for the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the beaches in Turkey where "looking back eastward on a non hazy day you can see the outline of the Caucus!" Luis however forgot the Kazakhstan spaceport, where affluent mountaineers, at a fee, can fly Migs and other fighter jets to celebrate their climb.

Climber helped put first man in space

It's a small planet, especially when it comes to Mountaineering and Space. In its latest report, NASA is shooting for September 6 as the new date for the launch of Atlantis to the International Space Station. They are meanwhile negotiating with the Ruskies over at Baikonur in Kazakhstan where Iranian born American Anousheh Ansari (XPrize) is itching to take off in a Soyuz for the same target on September 14.

Baikonur Cosmodrome was the launch site when Gagarin became the first man in Space. 7-times Snow Leopard and mountain guide Boris Korshunov worked in the special research team preparing Gagarin's flight. Although Boris turned 71 today; he's just back from Everest. His no O2/no sherpas climb was a hell of an attempt even though it was cut short of summit.

Climbing speed race conflicts with space shuttle launch

Boris works in the Space industry to this day and was awarded for his contribution in Soviet and Russian achievements in Space on Yuri's Night, April 12th this year.

Back in Kazakhstan from Everest, at 71 Boris is now gearing up to attend the Elbrus (5642 m) speed climbing race, joining top climbers such as Nickolay Tomjanin (2 Everest w/o O2 summits and Jannu north wall) and Denis Urubko (10, 8000ers and 2 new routes). The speed race in fact takes place on the exact date of Anoushe's planned launch - September 14!

Choosing the right Saint when things go wrong

"We need the risk-taking spirit of the Russians," Burt Rutan (SpaceShipOne) said in California a while back. Gagarin took big risks. The reason Nasa is negotiating with the Russians to delay their launch is that Atlantis delayed launch could conflict with the Soyuz (ISS rules do not allow a visiting shuttle and a visiting Soyuz docked to the ISS at the same time). But the Russians could be a hard bargain: As Spaceref.com puts it, "Russia pick a date, stack their rocket, ship it - and then shoot."

They do the same in the hills; Kazakh climbers are known to be tough: “I've often seen the Kazakhs climbing in bad weather – they do that a lot in Central Asian Mountains," Oscar of the Magic Line told ExWeb last year and other climbers chimed in.

The courageous world of Kazakh adventure is however supervised by Father Alexander in Alma-Ata, who advises what proper saint to pray to when things go wrong. Earlier this spring, Kazakh climbers returned the favor helping out with father Alexander’s new church; literally raising the huge, golden cross in place on top of the domed roof.

As NASA struggles to launch over in Florida; while Anousheh Ansari might see the departure date on her space ticket changed; and Boris straps on his speed climbing shoes - Father Alexander might just want to say a special prayer this week - for all of them.

On April 12, 1961, at age 27, Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. The rocket was from ready and his friends urged him to wait. But the race was on and time was out. When he stepped into the space craft, Yuri knew that chances were pretty big that this would be his last step on Earth.

What he didn't know was that less than 2 hours later, he would be the first human to see the Earth from above, and instead of dead, he would be famous all over the world.

Even beyond the loose parts of the rocket itself, nobody could tell what would happen to him - how the brain would function in weightlessness, or how the body would adapt. During reentry, the Vostok capsule was supposed to separate cleanly from its equipment module, but the two remained tethered by an umbilical line.

The Vostok spacecraft tumbled at a rate of 30 degrees per second. As a result, Gagarin experienced an acceleration of 10 G. The tumbling continued until the umbilical cord finally burned through. Gagarin exited the spacecraft at an altitude of about 20,000 feet and parachuted to the ground. His words: "Now let the other countries try to catch us."

Tale has it that the Ruskies themselves jolted awake a sleepy Washington with the news, in an early morning phone call stating, "we have been to Space."

The launch site was the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. Gagarin made a single orbit of the Earth. His flight lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. "I could clearly discern the outlines of continents, islands and rivers. The horizon presents a sight of unusual beauty. A delicate blue halo surrounds the Earth, merging with the blackness of space in which the stars are bright and clear cut," he reported. This is the view now awaiting Anousheh and the Atlantis crew.

Had it not been for Yuri's risky step, America would have got there first. Only weeks later, on May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard made a short, suborbital flight and became the first American in space. Less than a year later, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on February 20, 1962.

Only seven years after his epic flight, on March 27 1968, Gagarin died in a crash on a training flight in a MiG-15 aircraft. He was 34 years old.

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