Yuri Gagarin April 12, 1961 realized the dream of all mankind, becoming the first who left our planet and traveled into space. After that, there were still hundreds of flights, many astronauts achieved more, but Gagarin was the first, so his name will never be erased from history.
He was not only an outstanding pilot, but also an unusual personality as a whole, and we suggest you familiarize yourself with a dozen interesting facts about Yuri Gagarin and stories from his life.
10. By origin was from peasants
Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now Smolensk region, Russia). The city, located next to Gzhatsky, was renamed Gagarin in 1968 in his honor.
His parents, Alexei Ivanovich Gagarin and Anna Timofeevna Gagarina, worked on a collective farm. Manual workers were considered “peasants”but they were not just hard workers - his mother was said to love to read, and his father was an experienced carpenters. Yuri was the third of four children, and his older sister helped raise him while his parents worked.
Like millions of people in the Soviet Union, the Gagarin family suffered during the Nazi invasion of World War II. His older brothers and sisters were sent to Nazi Germany for slave labor in 1943 and only returned after the war.
9. A lot of time devoted to sports
Gagarin maintained excellent physical shape throughout his life and was a good athlete. This was written by space explorer Valery Bykovsky:
«Service in the Air Force has made us strong both physically and mentally. All of us, astronauts, were seriously engaged in sports and physical education when we served in the Air Force. I know that Yuri Gagarin was fond of hockey. He loved to stand in the goal. I don’t think I'm wrong when I say that sport has become an integral part of his life».
In addition to being a good hockey player, Gagarin was also a fan of basketball and coached the team of the Saratov Industrial College, as well as a referee.
8. He was nearly expelled from the 1st Military Aviation School
The reason was not a bad character or problems with discipline, but two failed flights on the exam. Gagarin failed 2 attempts and really there was a question about expulsion, but Anatoly Kolosov, his instructor, saw that the guy could not live without flying, so he could not decide to take his dream from him.
In the end, everything ended well: the instructors realized that the reason for Gagarin's failures lies in his small stature (~ 165 cm) and made a special lining on the seat. This improved Yuri's review and the third time he passed the exam without any problems.
7. Become the first person in history to fly into space
On April 12, 1961, one person overcame the barriers between our reality and the fantasy world.. On board the Vostok 1 spacecraft, he said: "Go" and was launched into the unknown, the mysterious world of space.
He knew about the risks and that this could be the last trip in his life, but this did not stop him, he had to do it for his country.
This man's name was Yuri Gagarin, he was only 27 years old. His flight took 108 minutes, he made one flyby around the Earth and returned alive.
6. The Soviet Union for more than 20 years hid the truth about the landing of Gagarin
The first persons of the USSR made a lot of efforts to convince the whole world that after the flight Gagarin stepped to the ground directly from the ship. In fact, before landing, the astronaut ejected from the cockpit and descended by parachute. Yuri himself was forced to lie (or rather, to cringe and evade evasively) about this.
The reason is that the international flight association, learning about the parachute, could reject the flight and not recognize it as a space flight. According to the rules, the astronaut must fly away and return on the ship.
5. In addition to Gagarin, there were 19 applicants for the flight
In 1960, after a search and selection process, Yuri Gagarin was selected along with 19 other pilots for the Soviet space program. Along with others who soon became space explorers, he was tested by experiments conducted to test his physical and psychological assessment: he also underwent preparations for the upcoming flight.
Of the twenty initially selected, the final choice for the first launch was between Gagarin and German Titov because of the results of their training and physical fitness.
4. Flew into space with the rank of senior lieutenant, and landed with the rank of major
Given the scale of his achievement, such a sharp increase in no one caused the slightest surprise. The official ceremony took place on April 14: Yuri Gagarin was also awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the Order of the Golden Star.
3. Rumor has it that Gagarin was a believer, not an atheist
Such statements were made by some of the astronaut's acquaintances, but we will no longer know the exact truth. After his flight, some Western media claimed that Gagarin said, “I don't see any god here". However, there are no such words in a direct recording of Gagarin’s conversation with the Earth during a space flight.
In a 2006 interview, Gagarin’s close friend, Colonel Valentin Petrov, said that Gagarin never said such words, and that this phrase came from a speech by Nikita Khrushchev in the Central Committee of the CPSU, where anti-religious propaganda was going on. In a certain context, Khrushchev said: “Gagarin flew into space, but did not see any God there ”.
2. In 1961, received an invitation to dinner from the Queen of Great Britain
Yuri Gagarin was once invited to have breakfast with Queen Elizabeth II in England. There were too many dishes on the table, and Yuri did not know which was used and for what, and honestly admitted this queen. She quickly reassured the guest with the phrase "Don’t worry, sometimes I get confused myself. ”.
1. Died March 27, 1968 during a test flight on a MiG-15
Despite the fact that Gagarin became the deputy director for training on the basis of the astronauts of Star City, he at the same time re-assumed the post of test pilot.
On March 27, 1968, during a regular training flight from Chkalovsky airbase, he and flight instructor Vladimir Seregin died in a MiG-15 plane crash near the city of Kirzhach. Gagarin and Seregin were buried in the Kremlin on Red Square.
People are not sure what caused the crash, but the 1986 investigation believes that the turbulence of the Su-11 Fishpot-C interceptor using afterburners could take Gagarin's plane out of control.
Russian documents open to the public in March 2003 showed that the KGB had changed its own investigation into the incident. The KGB indicated many conspiracies in the report, instead of showing the actions of base personnel.
The report said that the air traffic controller had provided Gagarin with old weather information, but by the time of his flight the conditions had become very poor. The ground crew also left fuel tanks on the plane. Gagarin's planned flight required good weather and no hanging tanks.
The investigation ended, deciding that Gagarin’s plane began to spin, either due to a bird strike or due to a sudden bend to avoid another plane. Due to the old weather forecast, the crew believed that they were higher than actually, and could not properly respond to take the MiG-15 out of rotation.