In 1961, Vostok 1 became the first spacecraft to carry a human, Yuri A. Gagarin, into space, 25 days prior to the first U.S. suborbital flight. Due to concerns of adverse reactions to weightlessness, the entire flight was under the control of ground personnel, and maintained continuous radio communications with earth. Television transmissions were also made from space. Radios, a life support system, instrumentation, and an ejection seat were contained in the manned cabin, which was attached to a service module that carried chemical batteries, orientation rockets, the main retr…