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Yuriy Gagarin

by Olga from Novosibirsk

<a href=http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/astronauts/gagarin.jpg>Yuri Gagarin</a>
Yuri Gagarin

Gagarin was the first cosmonaut in the world. In 1960 he was awarded the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union. He also got numerous state decorations of Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Cuba, Brazil, Hungary, etc.

Gagarin had been flying in space for 108 minutes.It was the first time in history that the Russian spaceship "Vostok" with the man on board was in space. After his flight he visited a lot of countries and met millions of people. Gagarin became the Hero of our country.

Yuri Gagarin was born in a village of Klushino near Gzhatsk, Russia, on 9 March 1934. The town of Gzhatsk was renamed into Gagarin in 1968 in his honor. His parents worked on a collective farm. His mother was a passionate reader and his father was a skilled carpenter. Yuri was the third of four children and his elder sister looked after him while his parents worked. His teachers described Gagarin as intelligent and hard-working. His mathematics and science teacher served in the Soviet Air Forces during the war, which presumably made a great impression on young Gagarin.

After graduating from a vocational school he began his working career in metalworks as a foundryman. After that Gagarin was selected for further training at a high technical school in Saratov. While there he joined the "AeroClub" and learned to fly a light aircraft, a hobby that would take up a lot of his time. Thanks to his persistence he mastered flying. In 1955 after completing his technical schooling he entered military flight training at the Orenburg Pilot's School. While there he met Valentina Goryacheva and he married in 1957. In 1960 Yuri Gagarin was selected to begin to prepare for the flight into space. The selection process was rigorous. Gagarin went through experiments that were designed to test his physical and psychological stamina. He was eventually selected as one of the top 2 candidates. His flight took place on 12 April 1961. Now it is the Day of Space in Russia. Yuri Gagarin died during air crash in 1968. The crash reason is still unidentified.

I admire him because he was very courageous and clever, and because he did very much in his life. He was a great person and I want to be the same.

Page created on 1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

Russia.com - Biography of Y.Gagarin
Wikipedia - Biography of Y.Gagarin