Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon, but he wasn't the first man to arrive in space. That goes to Yuri Gagarin.
It was back on April 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin, born Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, was about to be launched in the Vostok 1 spacecraft. He was soon to become the first human ever been in space. No one knew what he was thinking about at that time. Perhaps he was looking back to the days when he was raised by his family in the collective farm. Or maybe he was revising his training in the Soviet Air Force cadet school. Or possibly he was thinking about his wife, Valentina, and their daughter.
Soon at 9.07 a.m.(Moscow zone) Mr. Gagarin, aged 27, was sent to orbit the Earth. In the 5080kg spacecraft, he was strapped to his seat. The first few minutes was rough. The pressure twice his weight pressed unto him. But after minutes of being squashed, he was now weightless. His mission to orbit the Earth had begun. At an altitude of 187 miles, Vostok 1 orbited the Earth for 1 hour 29 minutes before landing back to Russia again.
The journey had won him worldwide fame. Statues were put up for him. And several streets in Russia had been renamed after him. Not long after the historic flight, the young Mr. Gagarin made several world tours to a few countries.
Picture: Mr. Gagarin during his interview in Earl's Court, United Kingdom. (Credit: BBC)
Unfortunately, about 7 years later, he was killed in an aircrash during routine training. To honor his death, Gzhatsk, his birth town, was renamed to Gagarin.
References:
Dunbar, B., Wilson, J. (2011). Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space. Retrieved from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html
Britannica. (2021). Yuri Gagarin. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yuri-Gagarin
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