Did you know that the ‘space age’ of Earth began 8 years before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon? It began when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin shot into space on April 12, 1961 at 9:07 Moscow time in the spacecraft Vostok 1.
Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in Klushino, Western Oblast, and Soviet Union. His parents worked on a collective farm and he was the third of four children. During the Nazi Occupation during World War II, the Nazis captured Klushino and seized the family’s farm.
Yuri’s family were evicted from their house and were forced to work to feed the soldiers. Yuri’s school was burned down, his brothers sent to Poland for slave labour and he was beaten and left to starve. His mother was injured by the Nazis and was hospitalised. After the war ended Yuri joined school again. His favourite subjects were maths and science and he was fascinated by airplanes. He continued his studies at an industrial technical school and volunteered at a local flying club as a Soviet air cadet. He was picked to join an Air Force pilot’s school in Orenburg and later recommended to the Soviet Space programme.
After rigorous training and a multi level selection process he was chosen for the Vostok programme which aimed to send a man into pace. His parting words as he shot up into space were “Poyekhali!” which means “off we go” in Russian.
His mission was a success and brought him instant worldwide fame. He was awarded the ‘Order of Lenin’ and given the titles of ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ and ‘Pilot Cosmonaut of the Soviet Union’. Monuments were raised to him and streets were renamed in his honour across the Soviet Union.
The Russian government did not allow Gagarin to participate in any more space missions as he was considered a national hero and too valuable to risk losing. Tragically however, he was killed in an air crash while on a routine training flight on March 27, 1968. His ashes are placed in a niche in the Kremlin wall. After his death in 1968 the town of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin. It has been 61 years since his legendary spaceflight shot him into the history books.
Picture Credit : Google
