Gagarin Yuri Alekseevich
Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut, the first person to fly into space.
Biography
Childhood and youth. He was born on March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino (now Gagarin district of the Smolensk region). During the Great Patriotic War, the family lived in a dugout — their house was occupied by the invaders. After the war, the family moved to Gzhatsk (now the city is named after Gagarin).
The path to heaven. He studied at a vocational school (received a degree in molding and casting), then at the Saratov Industrial College. An important step was taken by the Saratov DOSAAF Aero Club, where Gagarin made his first independent flight on a Yak‑18.
Military aviation. He graduated from the 1st Chkalov Military Aviation School of pilots, served in an aviation regiment near Murmansk.
The cosmonaut squad. In 1960, he joined the first cosmonaut corps. The selection was tough: not only health and skills were taken into account, but also height (no higher than 170 cm) — due to the cramped cabin of the Vostok ship.
A flight into space. On April 12, 1961, Gagarin made the first orbital flight around the Earth on the Vostok‑1 spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes, with a maximum altitude of about 327 km. The famous "Let's go!" sounded before the start.
World fame. After the flight, Gagarin went on a "Peace Mission" — visited dozens of countries, met with leaders of states, and became one of the most recognizable people on the planet.
Further service and training. He continued to work in the cosmonaut squad, trained new crews, studied at the Zhukovsky Military Air Engineering Academy and graduated with honors in 1968.
Death. He died on March 27, 1968 in a plane crash during a training flight on a UTI MiG‑15 aircraft together with instructor Vladimir Seregin. The exact causes of the disaster are still a matter of debate.
Interesting facts
His compact build (height 165 cm, weight about 68 kg) turned out to be one of the decisive factors in choosing Gagarin: the cabin of the Vostok was very cramped.
In space, Gagarin tasted food in zero gravity for the first time in history: he squeezed meat puree out of a tube and washed it down with chocolate sauce.
In one of the famous photographs where Gagarin walks along the red carpet, his shoelace is untied — this frame has become a symbol of his humanity and simplicity.
The city of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin in honor of the cosmonaut.
Heritage
April 12 is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day in Russia and the International Day of Human Spaceflight (UN International Day of Human Space Flight).
Gagarin's name is given to streets, squares, educational institutions, a crater on the Moon and the asteroid 1772 Gagarin.
His image has become a symbol of space exploration and an example of determination: from a village boy to a hero of a planetary scale.