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Yuri Gagarin - Cosmonaut & Explorer
(1934 - 1968) |
Yuri Gagarin was a Russian Soviet pilot and
cosmonaut (astronaut). He led the way in space
exploration by becoming the first human to travel
into outer space and complete an orbit of the
Earth. His journey paved the way for further
manned missions to explore space, including
the USA's Apollo 11 mission which successfully
landed two astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Aldrin, on the moon. The mysterious death of
Yuri Gagarin has been the subject of much speculation.
This page details facts about Yuri Gagarin's
life and death, and the events that shaped his
history.
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Yuri Gagarin the Explorer -
Fun Facts for Kids ! |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
1: |
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was born on
9th March 1934 in Klushino, near Gzhatsk in Smolensk Oblast,
Russia. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
2: |
His father, Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin,
was a carpenter and bricklayer, and his mother, Anna Timofeyevna
Gagarina, was a milkmaid. Yuri Gagarin had an older brother
and sister as well as a younger brother. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
3: |
In November 1941, the Nazis were advancing
on Moscow and occupied Klushino. Yuri Gagarin and his family
were removed from their home and a German officer took it
over. They were allowed to construct a 10ft x 10ft mud hut
behind the house, which Yuri Gagarin and his family lived
in until the occupation ended 21 months later. The family
moved to Gzhatsk in 1946. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
4: |
Yuri Gagarin became
an apprentice foundry man at the age of 16, working
at a steel plant in Lyubertsy near Moscow. At the same
time he was attending seventh grade evening classes.
Yuri Gagarin graduated, with honours, as a mould maker
and foundry man in 1951. Following selection for further
training, Yuri Gagarin studied at Saratov Industrial
Technical School.
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Yuri Gagarin Fact
5: |
During his time in
Saratov, Yuri Gagarin worked as a part time dock labourer
and attended a local flying club where he’d volunteered
to train as a Soviet air cadet. Yuri Gagarin learned
to fly in a biplane then progressed to a Yakovlev Yak-18,
a two seat military training aircraft. He was also keen
on sport participating in basket ball and ice hockey.
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Yuri Gagarin Fact
6: |
In 1955 Yuri Gagarin was drafted by the
Soviet army after graduating from the Saratov Industrial
Technical School. He was sent to the First Chkalov Air Force
Pilot's School in Orenburg, close to the Kazakhstan border. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
7: |
Yuri Gagarin Graduated from the First
Chkalov Air Force Pilot's School on 7th November 1957 and
became a Lieutenant in the Soviet Air Force. On the same
day Yuri Gagarin married Valentina Ivanovna Goryacheva,
a medical technician graduate he’d met at a dance in the
school. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
8: |
Following his graduation, Yuri Gagarin
was posted to the Luostari airbase in Murmansk Oblast, in
the north west of Russia near the border with Norway. The
climate in the area is unstable with high winds and and
a high level of precipitation, making flying dangerous.
On 6th November 1959 Yuri Gagarin was promoted to Senior
Lieutenant. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
9: |
Yuri Gagarin had taken a keen interest
in the historical flight of Sputnik 1 and the voyage of
Luna-3, which had photographed the far side of the moon
in 1959. In 1960 Yuri Gagarin applied for cosmonaut training
and, following selection for the Soviet space program, was
stationed in Star City, a purpose built facility just outside
Moscow. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
10: |
During training Yuri Gagarin underwent
many tests to assess his psychological and physical
endurance, including spending long periods of time in
a sensory deprivation chamber and in heat chambers.
Yuri Gagarin was also involved in experiments with weightlessness.
Yuri Gagarin took part in test flights under stress
with every reaction closely monitored. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
11: |
One man would be selected from this
elite group to take part in the Vostok programme. Following
the training sessions, Yuri Gagarin and his compatriot
Gherman Titov were shortlisted for the first launch.
At 5ft 2 in tall Yuri Gagarin was the ideal height for
the confined space in the Vostok cockpit, and was eventually
chosen to become the first cosmonaut by Chief Designer
Sergei Korolev, the head of the Soviet space programme. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact
12: |
Baikonur Cosmodrome, located on the
Kazakh Steppe, which is leased to Russia by the Kazakhstan
government, was the world’s first space launch facility.
It was on 12th April 1961 that this site saw the launch
of the Vostok 3KA-3, known as Vostok 1, with Yuri Gagarin
on board. As the rocket took off Yuri Gagarin shouted
‘Poyekhali!’ (Let’s Go!). |
Yuri Gagarin Fact 13: |
This historic moment secured Yuri Gagarin’s
place in history as being the first human in space and the
first human to orbit the Earth. This flight, by Yuri Gagarin,
still holds the record for being the shortest manned orbital
flight, lasting 108 minutes from launch to landing. The
flight ended for Yuri Gagarin, as planned, when at a height
of 23,000 ft he was ejected from the capsule and parachuted
to the ground approximately 175 miles west of Baikonur. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact 14: |
Yuri Gagarin became a national hero and
was driven in a procession of cars through Moscow to the
Kremlin, to receive the title ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’
from Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union.
He toured the world promoting the Soviet Union’s achievement
and becoming a celebrity. |
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Yuri Gagarin
Fact 15: |
Following a spell
as deputy to the Soviet of the Union, Yuri Gagarin
returned to Star City. He became a Lieutenant Colonel
of the Soviet Air Forces, before being promoted
to Colonel. He became backup pilot for Vladimir
Komarov in the Soyuz 1 mission, although Soviet
officials tried to prevent him flying for fear of
losing their hero. Yuri Gagarin was permanently
banned from participating in training or space flights
following the death of Komarov when his parachutes
failed during re-entry.
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Yuri Gagarin
Fact 16: |
On 27th March
1968 at the age of 34, while on a routine training
flight in a MiG-15UTI jet fighter, Yuri Gagarin
was involved in a crash which resulted in his death.
His body was cremated and his ashes buried in the
Kremlin walls in Red Square.
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Picture
of MiG-15UTI Jet Fighter
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Yuri Gagarin Fact 17: |
The cause of the crash, and Yuri Gagarin's
death, remains the subject of much speculation and many
theories. One of the most likely theories was put forward
by Alexey Leonov, part of the State Commission put together
to investigate the crash in 1968. In 2013 Leonov stated,
on Russian television, that a report on the incident had
become declassified and revealed that a Sukhoi Su-15, supersonic
interceptor jet, was flying below it’s minimum allowed altitude
in the area. He went on to describe how the Su-15 had passed
close to Yuri Gagarin’s plane without realising it due to
poor weather conditions. This sent Yuri Gagarin’s plane
into an uncontrollable tailspin which resulted in the fatal
crash. |
Yuri Gagarin Fact 18: |
Yuri Gagarin has been honoured in many
ways all over the world and even on the moon. These include
Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin placing a satchel containing commemorative
medals, depicting both Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Komarov,
on the moon. The Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad that saw
the launches of Sputnik 1 and Vostok 1 is now known as Gagarin’s
Start, and a statue of Yuri Gagarin is located outside the
Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. Gzhatsk, where he
once lived, was renamed Gagarin in his honour. |
Yuri Gagarin the Explorer
(1934 - 1968) Fun Facts Info for Kids ! |
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