As the late Yuri Gagarin is remembered on the 50th anniversary of the first man in space, few outside the country will recall Poland’s first and only man in space so far, Brigadier General Miroslaw Hermaszewski.
In 1978, he was singled out from a group of some 500 Polish pilots to take part in the Inter-cosmos space programme with the Soviet Union, ultimately orbiting the earth for eight days in the Salyut 6 space station.
Born in 1941, he was later awarded with the title of 'Hero of the Soviet Union'.
During martial law in Poland in 1981, the pilot was a member of the so-called Military Council of National Salvation, led by General Jaruzelski.
However, the astronaut currently insists that this was done without his consent.
Space race
Gagarin’s successful mission 50 years ago heaped glory on the Soviet Union during the Cold War and prompted an envious America to invest millions in its own space programme.
“The first flight of a man into space was a kind of turning point for our civilisation,” reflects Dr Krzysztof Ziolkowski from Poland's Space Research Centre.
“The event marked the beginning of progress in space exploration, the fruits of which we are continuing to reap today,” he told Polish Radio.
Ziolkowski believes that the energies and talents poured into the space race paved the way for many of the novelties in our lives today.
“Mobile phones, internet, communication facilities, none of these would exist if not for the exploration of space,” he argues, stressing the “incredible technological advances” that stemmed from the research.
Russian triumph
Although the realities were somewhat hushed up at the time, Gagarin's return to earth 50 years ago nearly ended in disaster when the astronaut's descending capsule failed to break free from its service module.
Eventually the cables burnt through, and Gagarin ejected, landing by parachute near the Volga River.
Nikita Krushchev organised a celebration in the astronaut's honour on Red Square, and the streets of Moscow erupted in jubilation not seen since the end of World War II.
The gauntlet had been thrown down to the West, and President J.F.Kennedy was quick to react. A mission to the moon became the focus of American experts.
Reaching for the stars
At present, the Polish Space Research Centre is involved in a number of international projects, among them BRITE, which combines Canadian, Austrian and Polish expertise, with the aim of putting six satellites into space.
Amongst these will be Lem, named after internationally acclaimed science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem. Poland's first ever satellite will be completed later this year, followed by Hevelius, the second Polish contribution to the six-part group.
The Polish centre is also involved in the EU-led Galileo programme, which seeks to install a global navigation satellite system. Likewise, Polish experts a playing a role in the Russian-led Fobos-Grunt project, which aims to take samples from Phobos, one of Mars's moons. A state-of-the-art Polish machine by the name of CHOMIK (hamster) is due to take part in the collection of samples. (pg/nh)