Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin was born to peasants in a small village near the West Russian town of
Smolensk, and when he was seven, his village was invaded by the Germans. His family had to
move out of the house and live another 21 months without a home. He was a gifted student of
engineering, mathematics, and also a gifted athlete. During his studies, he also worked in a
foundry and after completing his training as a military pilot, he became one of the first 20 selec-
ted for the SSSR space mission.

It was difficult to find an astronaut who would be a calm and confident pilot and at the
same time a man who would not be afraid to step into the unknown and stay whole.
In the end, he became a suitable adept, not only due to his characteristics and height (155 cm
ideal size for the Vostok 1 capsule) but also due to his charismatic smile and origin, which suppor-
ted the ideas of the SSSR.

Yuri became the first man in the Universe, and when he launched a mission on 12. April
1961 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Vostok 1, he declared, "Let's do it!" After landing after
less than two hours (he spent 1 hour and 48 minutes in space), he ended up in a field near town
Engels, where grandmother and granddaughter were working, and when he came out in his or-
ange suit, he said, "Don't be afraid, I am a Soviet like you, who has descended from space and I
must find a telephone to call Moscow!"

Russia hid the entire mission until a successful landing. It was a win for them both in the
battle with the USA for the first man in the Universe and as proof of their maturity, and it was, of
course, support for their ideology. At the same time, the Soviet cosmonaut conquered the whole
world, which was of course one of their strongest victory and weapons.

He later became deputy director of the new astronaut training centre. His fame, and the
pressure associated with it, were also reflected in his life and marriage, there was talk of drinking
and infidelity problems, including those where Gagarin jumped out the window after his wife
caught him in bed with another woman.

He then refocused on space and became a substitute for another Soyuz mission, which
ended in 1967 as a tragedy and the death of his friend. Authorities banned him from space
travel, but he still struggled to fly as many hours as a pilot to remain a credible instructor.
And in 1968, Gagarin's MiG-15 crashed in the woods near Moscow, dying at the age of 34.