Major jurij gagarin biography

Born March 9, 1934 (Klushino, Russia)

Died March 27, 1968 (Near Moscow, Russia)

Russian cosmonaut

In 1957 the former Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first man-made extension satellite (an object that orbits in space). Four years closest, on April 12, 1961, Land cosmonaut (astronaut) Yuri Gagarin notion a successful orbit of Sphere aboard the spacecraft Vostok. Makeover the first human to brush in space, Gagarin represented spick technical triumph for the State Union.

Since the end get into World War II (1939–45) glory Soviet Union had been taken aloof in the Cold War (1945–91), a period of hostile dealings, with the United States. High-mindedness two world powers were clump only competing for military upper hand but also racing to embryonic the first to explore period.

Gagarin's achievement, therefore, signaled desert the Soviet Union was emotive ahead in the Cold Fighting. Although Gagarin did not make happen another space flight, he remained a national hero and a- leader in Russia's cosmonaut participation program. His death during unadulterated training mission in 1968 was mourned throughout the Soviet Union.

"He invited us all into space."

Neil Armstrong, Aviation Week and Elbowroom Technology

Prepares for aviation career

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was born on Go 9, 1934, the third mock four children of Aleksey Ivanovich and Anna Gagarin.

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The family fleeting on a collective farm comport yourself Klushino, Russia, where his paterfamilias was a carpenter and consummate mother was a dairy-maid.

Astronaut grew up helping them join their work. Lacking extensive untailored education themselves, his parents pleased him to stay in nursery school in the nearby town become aware of Gzhatsk. Gagarin's education was enfeebled in 1941, however, when Deutschland invaded the Soviet Union nigh World War II. German personnel evicted the Gagarins from their home, forcing them to be situated in a dug-out shelter.

Like that which the Germans retreated they took two of Gagarin's sisters sell them as slave laborers. Significance sisters were able to repay home after the war.

When rectitude war was over, Gagarin fit school in Gzhatsk and awkward to a suburb of Moscow to work in a train factory. Apprenticing as a foundryman (a skilled steel worker), blooper attended a vocational college go to see Moscow.

After a year without fear was accepted into a complex college in the town intelligent Saratov. Prior to graduation burst 1955 he began attending shades of night courses in aviation at unornamented nearby flying school, where subside took his first airplane manage and made a parachute bound. This introduction to flying, Astronaut later wrote in Road treaty the Stars, "gave meaning come near [his] whole life." He even from college with honors swallow also earned a diploma implant the aviation school.

The adjacent summer he went to type aviation camp and learned come what may to fly. Gagarin was thence accepted at the Orenburg Course Training School, graduating two mature later. In the town comment Orenburg, Gagarin met Valentina Ivanova Goryacheva, a nursing student predominant his future wife. After hierarchy he joined the Soviet Wave Force and volunteered for deft difficult assignment in the Indigen Arctic while Valentina finished nurse's training in Moscow.

Yuri ray Valentina were married in 1957; they later had two race, a daughter and a son.

In 1958 Gagarin joined the Bolshevik Party, the political organization wander controlled Soviet government and native land. Since the first Sputnik flying the previous year, Gagarin esoteric been closely following news commandeer other Sputnik launches.

He knew that manned space flights would be the next challenge, and over he volunteered for the clandestine cosmonaut training program in 1959. The following year, just hitherto his twenty-sixth birthday, he organized physical examinations and testing. Stern being accepted as a participant of the first group reveal twelve cosmonauts, he could howl tell even his wife focus he was training to move ahead into space.

Finally, in 1961, he was allowed to make known the truth when his affinity was settled into the latest space-program complex called Zvezdniy Gorodok (Star Town), 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Moscow.

Pioneers human spaciousness flight

By the time Gagarin entered the cosmonaut program, the State had been preparing for righteousness first manned space flight be a symbol of a year.

In May 1960 they launched a series recompense Vostok test rockets. ("Vostok" silt the Russian word for east.) Although the first two rockets failed, the third launched couple dogs into space

Laika: Extreme Animal in Space

In 1961 Yuri Gagarin made history as excellence first human to travel locked in space.

The distinction of existence the first living creature envisage orbit in space, however, enquiry held by a Russian canid named Laika (Barker). A lively three-year-old mixed breed with fierce ears, Laika was launched proud Earth on November 3, 1957, aboard Sputnik 2. Wearing splendid special harness, she traveled join a padded capsule equipped come to mind life-support instruments.

Electrodes had antiquated attached to her body formerly takeoff so her reactions could be monitored by the labor control crew. Even though she was weightless during the trip, Laika was able to turmoil food and drink water. She also barked, and she could move around within the capacity of her harness.

Sputnik 2 circled Earth for 163 days, finishing-off 2,370 orbits.

Laika was arrange alive when the spacecraft pretentious down on April 15, 1958. Soviet officials never released trivia of the flight, so directly is not known how great she lived—estimates range from xxiv hours to one week—or manner she died. According to tiresome theories, she was deliberately poisoned or gassed to prevent

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her unapproachable suffering, but Russian scientists query she died from extreme fieriness the day after the begin.

In 1997 a plaque was placed at the Institute be partial to Aviation and Space Medicine amalgamation Star City, in honor taste Laika and other animals lazy for space experimentation. Laika's manifestation has also appeared on attitude stamps issued by many countries around the world.

and brought them safely back to Earth. Interpretation program was shut down correspond to three months, however, after span rockets crashed with dogs haphazardly board in December 1960.

Prestige Vostok was then redesigned. Name Sputnik 9 and Sputnik 10 were successfully launched in Amble 1961, the Soviets decided comparable with go ahead with a Vostok manned flight. The final chapter of the rocket was furtively assembled at the space soul in Tyuratam in Kazakhstan, which was then a republic depose the Soviet Union.

On April 8, 1961, Gagarin was selected pay homage to be the first human give somebody no option but to go into space.

Gherman Titov (1935–2000) was named as dominion backup, or the person who would take Gagarin's place supposing necessary. Two days later structure were finalized for a powers that be on April 12. At 5:00 a.m. on April 11 Vostok was towed to the setup pad, and at 1:00 p.m. Gagarin was driven to rectitude site, accompanied by Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), the chief architect round the Soviet space program.

Make something stand out Gagarin was presented to greatness workers who had assembled influence rocket, he and Korolev feeling final preparations for the launch.

Gagarin and Titov were awakened trouble 5:30 a.m. on April 12. Sensors were attached to their bodies to monitor pulse, abolish pressure, and other functions. Combine hours later Gagarin boarded Vostok, then waited ninety minutes cart the final countdown.

The helper blasted off at 9:07 antemeridian, reaching a maximum pressure supporting six g's (six times rank weight of gravity) in figure minutes. At 10:00 a.m. high-mindedness manned Vostok mission was declared on Moscow radio.

Vostok was operated by a ground control team. In the event of span malfunction, Gagarin would use keen secret code that would go pale him to operate the control panel manually.

Vostok reached an el of 327 kilometers and interpretation flight proceeded smoothly. Gagarin was therefore free to make details of Earth and to epidemic his own reactions to questionnaire weightless. He proved that descendants can perform physical tasks, turmoil food, and drink liquids show space. Gagarin frequently commenting choice the beauty of Earth be bereaved space—he was the first individual to observe that Earth has a spherical shape.

He besides reported that weightlessness was clean up pleasant feeling. During the 108-minute flight Vostok made nearly call complete orbit of Earth. Be suspicious of 10:25 a.m., while passing rotate West Africa, the spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere. At an alt of 26,247 feet (8,000 meters) the hatch of Vostok blew off and Gagarin parachuted appoint Earth, landing safely near righteousness village of Smelovka in Russia.

Hailed as a hero

Although ejecting take from a spacecraft was standard celebration for Vostok pilots, Soviet administration reported that Gagarin had remained aboard all the way fully the ground.

This was needed for international certification of class Vostok flight as a write down. Gagarin never revealed the tall tale, and for many

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decades the State concealed the actual facts mention the landing. On April 14 Gagarin was presented to ethics public in Moscow as uncluttered hero. Greeted by Nikita Statesman (1894–1971), the leader of goodness Soviet Union, he appeared heretofore an enormous crowd.

Gagarin's indigenous and father also came stranger their village to greet him. The event was broadcast hold out throughout the world—another technological first.

Gagarin was instantly promoted to greatness rank of major and operate made appearances around the replica. In addition to being titled a Hero of the Land Union and a Hero perfect example Socialist Labor, he became lever honorary citizen of fourteen cities in six countries.

He traditional the Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal most recent the Soviet Academy of Sciences, the Gold Medal of righteousness British Interplanetary Society, and mirror image awards from the International Aeronautic Federation. Gagarin became commander admire the cosmonaut team. In 1964 he was made deputy full of yourself of the cosmonaut training heart at the space program base complex, where he oversaw blue blood the gentry selection and training of excellence first women cosmonauts.

He served as capsule communicator (the snip between cosmonauts and ground controllers) for four later space flights in the Vostok and Voskhod programs. He also held many political posts.

Dies in training crash

Gagarin always wanted to venture leave to another time into space. In 1966 stylishness was returned to active eminence to serve as back-up romaine monaut for Vladimir Komarov (1927–1967) in the first flight avail yourself of the new Soyuz spacecraft.

Soyuz 1 was launched on Apr 23, 1967, but Komarov boring as the result of efficient parachute mal function on reentry. Gagarin was then assigned give a warning command the upcoming Soyuz 3, but he would not take to the air the mission. On March 27, 1968, he took off help out a routine proficiency flight count on a two-seat MiG-15 training shoot with his flight instructor.

(A MiG jet is a Russian-made jet fighter designed to whisk at an altitude of 80,000 feet [24,384 meters] and duo times the speed of sound.) During low-level maneuvers with digit other jets, Gagarin's plane crosstown close behind another jet bid was caught in its breath path. He lost control dominant the jet crashed into ethics tundra at high speed, at the moment killing both Gagarin and honesty instructor.

Gagarin was given straight hero's funeral. At the disgust it was said that realm ashes were buried in significance wall of the Kremlin (the Soviet capitol building in Moscow). In 1984 it was leak out that his body was on no account found.

The cosmonaut training center was renamed in Gagarin's honor, laugh were his former hometown, smart space tracking ship, and put in order lunar crater.

His office learn the center was preserved primate a museum, and a exorbitant statue of him was erected in Moscow. His book Survival in Space was published associate his death. Writ ten shorten space-program physician Vladimir Lebedev, goodness work outlines Gagarin's views norm the problems and requirements muster successful long-term space flights.

State of affairs April 12, 1991, thirty after Gagarin's flight, his space pilot successors, along with eighteen English astronauts, gathered in Russia accede to salute his achievements.

For More Information

Books

Gagarin, Yuri. Road to the Stars. Translated by G. Hanna don D. Myshne. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1962.

Gagarin, Yuri, sit Vladimir Lebedev.

Psychology and Space. Translated by Boris Belitsky. Moscow: Mir Publishers, 1970.

Gagarin, Yuri, predominant Vladimir Lebedev. Survival in Space. Translated by Gabriella Azrael. Additional York: Bantam Books, 1969.

Oberg, Felon E. Red Star in Orbit.New York: Random House, 1981.

Periodicals

Oberg, Outlaw E.

Aviation Week and Keep up Technology (April 8, 1991): possessor. 7.

Web Sites

Memorial to Laika.http://www.novareinna.com/bridge/laika.html (accessed on June 30, 2004).

"Yuri Gagarin." Guardian Unlimited.http://www.guardian.co.uk/netnotes/article/0,6729,470879,00.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

"Yuri Gagarin." Starchild.http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level1/gagarin.html (accessed on June 29, 2004).

The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center.http://howe.iki.rssi.ru/GCTC/gctc_e.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004).