On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into space when he launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome and went into orbit on the Vostok 3KA-3 spacecraft (Vostok 1).
Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in Klushino, Russia, and lived a short life. He died on March 27, 1968 in Kirzhach, Russia. Throughout Yuri’s life he got several award. Some of these awards were ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ (1961), ‘Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR’ (1961), ‘Order of Lenin’, (1961), ‘Order of the Southern Cross’ (1961), ‘Order of the Cross of Grunwald 1st Class’ (1961), and many more.
On April 12, 1961, Yuri completed an orbit of the Earth. This event took 1 hour, 48 minutes, not as long as you would expect. Yuri launched around 9:00am (actual time 9:07am), and landed at 10:55am. His spacecraft was called Vostok 1. After completing this, Yuri immediately became worldwide famous. Monuments were raised to him, and streets were renamed in his honour across the Soviet Union.
Early Life
Yuri was born in the village of Klushino, near Gzhatsk (renamed Gagarin in 1968 after his death), on March 9, 1934. Yuri Gagarin parents worked on a collective farm. Yuri’s dad, Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin was a carpenter and bricklayer, and Yuri’s mother, Anna Timofevevna Gagarina was a milkmaid. Yuri had four siblings. The oldest was Valentin Gagarin (brother), second oldest was Zoya (girl), then Yuri and the youngest, Boris (boy). His family suffered during Nazi occupation in World War II. An officer took over the Gagarin residence and allowed the family to build a mud hut, approximately 3 x 3 metres (10 x 10 ft.) on the land behind their house. Yuri and his family spent a year and nine months in the hut. Yuri’s older brother and sister were taken away and sent to Poland for slave labour in 1943 and came back in 1945 after the war. In 1946 Yuri and his family moved to Gzhatsk, where Yuri continued his secondary education. At the age of 16 Yuri entered into an apprenticeship as a foundry man at the Lyubertsy Steel Plant near Moscow. Gagarin also enrolled at a local ‘young workers’ school for seventh grade evening class. When he graduated in 1951 from both seventh grade and the vocational school he was selected for further training at the Saratov Industrial Technical School. Here he studied tractors. Gagarin volunteered for training as a Soviet air cadet at a local flying club. He learned to fly in a biplane and a Yak-18. Yuri graduated in 1955 and was sent to the first Chkalov Air Force Pilots School in Orenburg. In November 1957 he graduated from Orenburg. In 1960 Yuri Gagarin and only 19 other pilots were selected for the Soviet Space Program. From there on he trained to become the first man to space.
Yuri Gagarin’s life was really rough, but he never stopped he just kept going. By doing this he was rewarded with being the first man to space, becoming famous and getting many awards. Yuri had a rough life but it ended up to be one that was legendary.