Yuri Gagarin

Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space and the first man to orbit the Earth making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft.

Biography (1934-1968)

Yuri A. Gagarin was born in a village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now in Smolensk Oblast), Russia, on March 9, 1934. His father was a carpenter. After graduating from secondary school in 1949, Gagarin went to several technical schools before joining the Orenburg Higher Air Force School (Russian Air Force) in 1955. He graduated with honours from the Soviet Air Force Academy in 1957. Soon afterward, he became a military fighter pilot. By 1959, he had been selected for cosmonaut training as part of the first group of USSR cosmonauts. He began his cosmonaut training in 1960, along with 19 other candidates.

Yuri Gagarin flew only one space mission. On April 12, 1961 he became the first human to orbit Earth. Gagarin's spacecraft, Vostok 1, circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. At the highest point, Gagarin was about 327 kilometers above Earth.

Once in orbit, Yuri Gagarin had no control over his spacecraft. Vostok's reentry was controlled by a computer program sending radio commands to the space capsule. Although the controls were locked, a key had been placed in a sealed envelope in case an emergency situation made it necessary for Gagarin to take control. As was planned, Cosmonaut Gagarin ejected after reentry into Earth's atmosphere and landed by parachute.

Colonel Yuri Gagarin died on March 27, 1968 when the MiG-15 he was piloting crashed near Moscow. At the time of his death, Yuri Gagarin was in training for a second space mission.

History

The Cold War, a Communist threat from Cuba. It was a time of rapid social and political change:  the birth control pill, anti-segregation protests in the South has burst upon America's cultural consciousness.

On April 12, 1961, newly elected President John F. Kennedy was concentrating on a surprise invasion of Cuba by U.S. -supported counter-revolutionaries, when a daring cosmonaut jolted the world. Yuri Gagarin soared 200 miles overhead, becoming the first human in space and the first to orbit the planet. While Gagarin's flight lasted only 1 hour and 49 minutes, it became one the twentieth century's most significant human achievements.

The United States lost the early heats in the space race and Kennedy was blamed for failing to dislodge Cuban dictator Fidel Castro from power. American newspapers and magazines glorified U.S. astronauts in training, however the Soviet Union's manned space program remained a state secret until Gagarin's amazing flight. His flight opened a new frontier in space.

Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, he became the first person to travel in space, circling the Earth aboard Vostok 1. On April 12, 1961 at 9:06 am Gagarin lifted off in the Vostok 1 spacecraft and after a 108-minute flight of extended microgravity, he parachuted safely to the ground in the Saratov region of the USSR. As the first human to fly in space, he successfully completed one orbit around the Earth. After his historic flight, Gagarin became an international symbol for the Soviet space program and in 1963 was appointed deputy director of the Cosmonaut Training Center. In 1966 he served as a backup crewmember for Soyuz 1 and on February 17, 1968, completed a graduate degree in technical sciences. Tragically, during flight training in a UTI-MiG-15 aircraft on March 27, 1968, Gagarin was killed when his plane crashed.

Vostok 1.

The first Vostok, weighing about 4,540kg (10,000 pounds) was launched on April 12, 1961 with cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin was the first human in space, a tremendous victory for the Soviets in the Space Race. The apogee of his orbit was about 327km (203 miles) above sea level. After a single 108 minute orbit  of Earth, Vostok 1's retro rocket fired to begin reentry. The instrument section of the satellite was released and the capsule plummeted back toward Earth. At an altitude of about 2.4km - 4.0km (1.5 to 2.5 miles), Gagarin ejected from the capsule and parachuted safely to the ground.

Vostok was designed to reenter Earth's atmosphere after ten days, even if the retro-rocket failed to fire, so Vostok missions always carried enough food for ten days.

Did you know?

The Vostok (East) spacecraft consisted of a cabin attached to an instrument module. In each Vostok mission a single cosmonaut sat in the cabin in an ejection seat. A heatshield coated the spherical cabin to protect it from incineration during re-entry. The instrument module, attached to the cabin by steel bands, contained a single, liquid-fuel retro rocket ad smaller attitude control thrusters.

Colonel Yuri A. Gagarin, popularly called “The Columbus of the Cosmos,” was born on a collective farm in a region west of Moscow, Russia, on March 9, 1934. His father was a carpenter. Yuri attended the local school for six years and continued his education at vocational and technical schools.

Yuri Gagarin joined the Russian Air Force in 1955 and graduated with honours from the Soviet Air Force Academy in 1957. Soon afterward, he became a military fighter pilot. By 1959, he had been selected for cosmonaut training as part of the first group of USSR cosmonauts.

Yuri Gagarin flew only one space mission. On April 12, 1961 he became the first human to orbit Earth. Gagarin's spacecraft, Vostok 1, circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometres per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. At its highest point, Gagarin was about 200 miles (327 kilometres) above Earth. His backup was, German Titov.


Once in orbit, Yuri Gagarin had no control over his spacecraft. Vostok's reentry was controlled by a computer program sending radio commands to the space capsule. Although the controls were locked, a key had been placed in a sealed envelope in case an emergency situation made it necessary for Gagarin to take control. As was planned, Cosmonaut Gagarin ejected after reentry into Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 20,000 feet and landed by parachute. As pilot of the spaceship Vostok 1, he proved that man could endure the rigors of lift-off, re-entry, and weightlessness.

As a result of his historic flight he became an international hero and legend. Colonel Gagarin died on March 27, 1968 when the MiG-15 airplane he was piloting crashed near Moscow. He was given a hero's funeral, his ashes interred in the Kremlin Wall. At the time of his death, he was in training for a second space mission.

Did you know?

* On April 12, 1961, the Russian cosmonaut became the first human launched into space. His 108-minute mission made him a world-wide hero. Gagarin died in 1968 at the age of 34 in a crash during a jet training flight.

Also, on the same date in 1981, the first U.S. Space Transport System, to become known as the Columbia space shuttle was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with astronauts Robert Crippen and John Young aboard.

Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space less than a month later.

* The USSR also had plans to go to the moon and at one time Gagarin, desperate to make a second spaceflight, was suggested as the back-up for the mission to land a cosmonaut on the moon.

Books and other Merchandise:

Yuri Gagarin: The First Man in Space by Heather Feldman. (Reading level: Ages 4-8)
From Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca

Yuri Gagarin Coin Frame Set - The flight of Vostok I was a treamdous achievement that began mankind's entry into space and ignited what was to become the great "Space Race," between the Soviet Union and the United States. This one-ruble coin contains metal from melted down pieces of former Soviet spacecraft.

Links:

Yuri Gagarin:
Yuri Gagarin: Info and Pictures
Yuri Gagarin: by astronautix.com
Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre:
Russia Remembers Space Hero: from BBC.co.uk

Back to Space Works