Yuri Gagarin's 82nd birth anniversary: Some facts on the first human to travel into space

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Yuri Gagarin's 82nd birth anniversary: Some facts on the first human to travel into space

"The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended." - Yuri Gagarin

Russian-Soviet pilot and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who is well-known as the first human to journey into outer space, was born on March 9 in the year 1934.

On what would have been his 82nd birthday, listed are some lesser-known facts on Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the first man to touch the sky:

• Gagarin went to vocational school, in Moscow, intending to become a foundry worker (foundry is a factory that produces metal castings)

• After graduating from the vocational school in 1951, he was selected for training at the Saratov Industrial Technical School, where he studied tractors

• Gagarin volunteered for weekend training as a Soviet air cadet at a local flying club where he learned to fly

• Gagarin was one of the 20 pilots chosen for the initial Soviet space programme. He was so popular among his fellow candidates that, 17 of them anonymously nominated him for the space programme

• Out of the 20 selected, the eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov. One of the factors for their selection was their physical characteristics and since the space was limited in the small Vostok cockpit, Gagarin was chosen as he was only 5 feet 2 inches tall

• On April 12, 1961, the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) spacecraft was launched. Gagarin thus became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the earth

• His call sign was Kedr

• In total, Gagarin's flight lasted 108 minutes

• In 1962, he began serving as a deputy to the Soviet of the Union, and was elected to the Central Committee of the Young Communist League

• Gagarin became Lieutenant colonel of the Soviet Air Forces in 1962, and received the rank of colonel in 1963

• On March 27 in the year 1968, Gagarin died in a jet fighter aircraft crash while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base

• Yuri Gagarin was born near Gzhatsk which was renamed Gagarin in 1968 after his death.

Yuri Gagarin's 82nd birth anniversary: Some facts on the first human to travel into space : Worldly Science

 

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This date in science: Yuri Gagarin’s birthday

March 9, 2016. Yuri Alekseyevitch Gagarin (1934 – 1968) would have been 82 today. He became the first human ever to travel into space on April 12, 1961, flying into orbit around Earth for 89.1 minutes in Russia’s Vostok 1 spacecraft. He circled the Earth once and flew as high as 200 miles (327 km). The entire mission, from launching to landing lasted 108 minutes.

Yuri was born on a small farm west of Moscow. His father was a bricklayer, a carpenter, and a farmer. His mother was a milkmaid. He was the third in a family of four children.

During the Second World War, the Gagarin family was broken apart as two of Yuri’s older sisters were taken into labor camps by the Nazis. The Gagarins were forced out of their house, and dug a hideout in the ground, where they stayed until the end of the war. After the war, the family moved to Gziatsk.

Gagarin was inspired to become a pilot while still a teenager. When a Russian Yak fighter plane was forced to land in a field near his home, the praise those pilots received left a mark on the young Gagarin. He wanted to be like them.

He studied to become a foundryman (a foundry is a factory that melts metals in special furnaces and pours the molten metal into molds for making products). He was singled out for his skillfulness to further his studies in the Saratov Technical School.

There, his dream to become a pilot took root, as during his 4th and last year at Saratov, he had the chance to join a local flying club. He learned to operate a plane, and flew by himself for the first time in 1955.

That same year, he also graduated from school, and was recruited by the Soviet Army.

At the advice of his flying mentor, he joined the Soviet Air Force, and went on studying at the Orenburg School of Aviation. There, he was taught to fly MIGs.

During his studies at Orenburg, he also met his future wife, Valentina Ivanova Goryacheva, who was a nursing student at the time.

In November, 1957, when Gagarin was 23, he graduated from Orenburg with honors and married Valentina. Later, the couple had two girls, Yelena, and Galina.

In 1959, after the Russians succeeded at photographing the far side of the moon for the first time with Luna 3, many – including Yuri – felt it was about time for the first man to be sent to space. He and a few other men were accepted for cosmonaut training in 1960 after a lot of selection.

The selected candidates underwent not only physical training, but also mental and psychological training.

Gagarin was known for his good humour, perseverance, and calm.

On April 12, 1961, the Russians amazed the world by launching Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome with Yuri Gagarin aboard. Vostok means East in Russian.

East for sunrise, and for the rise of the Space Age.

Hear a recording of Yuri Gagarin saying “poyekhali” (“let’s go”) before the launch.

After coming back from space, Gagarin became an international celebrity. Khrushchev awarded him with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

His dream had come true.

Gagarin and his wife began touring the world, where Yuri was decorated for his legendary accomplishment. It’s rumored that Gagarin didn’t handle his fame very well, however.

In 1962, he was appointed as a deputy of the Soviet Union, and he was elected to the Central Committee of the Young Communist League. But Gagarin was not entirely happy. He felt he didn’t train to fly only once. He wanted to fly more, but – according to the stories about him – those around him tried to stop him for fear of losing the great Soviet hero.

In 1963, Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Center outside Moscow. Later, the training center was named for him.

The following year he started extensive training to become a fighter pilot. He died on March 27, 1968, at the age of 34 due to the crash of a MiG – 15UTI that he and colleague Vladimir Seryogin were flying from the Chkalovski Air Base.

Their bodies were collected near the small town of Khirzach, and were cremated. Their ashes are a part of the Kremlin Building in the Red Square, in Moscow.

Bottom line: Born on March 9, 1934, Yuri Alekseyevitch Gagarin (1934 – 1968) was the first human being ever to travel into space. His historic flight took place on on April 12, 1961, when he orbited Earth for 89.1 minutes in Russia’s Vostok 1 spacecraft.

This date in science: Yuri Gagarin's birthday | Science Wire | EarthSky

 

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[jamahir]

"The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended." - Yuri Gagarin

beautiful and concise description.

Out of the 20 selected, the eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov. One of the factors for their selection was their physical characteristics and since the space was limited in the small Vostok cockpit, Gagarin was chosen as he was only 5 feet 2 inches tall

a unbiased bbc program that i heard in 2010 or 2011 about the 50th anniversary of the first human flight to space, mentioned two other reasons.

seems the program director ( or perhaps the head of cosmonaut training ) was very impressed with the humble and very respectful attitude that yuri gagarin had towards the vostok capsule, removing his shoes to enter it when shown it for the first time... plus the fact the yuri gagarin was supposedly a ever-smiling jolly chap.

thanks for the pictures.

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@Levina @Zibago @django