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Yuri Gagarin Юрий Гагарин | |
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| Born | 9 March 1934 Klushino, RSFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 27 March 1968 (aged 34) Novosyolovo, RSFSR, Soviet Union |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Known for | First man in space |
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet air force pilot and cosmonaut who became the first person to go into space on the Vostok 1 mission on 21 April 1961.[1]
Early life[edit | edit source]
On March 9, 1934, Gagarin was born in the town of Klushino, located in the Smolensk Oblast in the west of the Russian SFSR. As a child he saw the invasion of his home by Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War and its consequences for the population. After the liberation of his home by the Red Army, Gagarin resumed his studies where he was inspired by his mathematics teacher, a former soldier, to better himself.[2]
After leaving school Gagarin worked in a foundry as a moulder until 1954 where he was an enthusiastic worker. He then moved to Saratov where he learned to fly at an aeroclub before applying to join the Oremburg Military Flying School to train as a fighter pilot.[2]
Career[edit | edit source]
By 1957 Gagarin was a qualified fighter pilot and two years later he was qualified as a trainee cosmonaut. In 1960 he was selected among 20 candidates to go into space aboard Vostok 1 which occurred April 21, 1961. His flight lasted 108 minutes, reaching a maximum height of 327Km as he circled the earth before parachuting on the return home after travelling 40,806 Km and 600M.[2]
After the space flight Gagarin travelled the world, visiting 30 countries, talking to people about both spaceflight and the Soviet peace initiatives. He wrote a book on his experiences called I See The World and continued working on the Soviet spaceflight programme whilst serving as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet from 1962. Gagarin devoted his life to working on the space program and believed fully in the socialist ideal, disparaging the bourgeois western idea that celebrities shouldn't work.[2]
Gagarin worked on new designs for reusable spacecraft and in 1967 he was involved in the launch of the new Soyuz spacecraft. On March 27, 1968 at the age of 34, he crashed and died whilst on one of his regular test flights. Gagarin's legacy inspired a generation of Soviet children and was so beloved to the Soviet people that statues were erected throughout the country of him and places renamed after him, most notably a crater on the moon and a minor planet.[2]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ "April, 12 – The International Day of Human Space Flight" (2022-04-12). Politsturm. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Gagarin – a shining example of Soviet man" (2011-05). Lalkar. Archived from the original on 2024-05-29.