Yuri Gagarin

Silence. This is all that the group of nervous scientists heard through the speaker connected to the rocket that they had just launched. Suddenly, the radio picked up on a voice proclaiming, “I see earth. It's so beautiful!” The tension broke and the scientists burst into joy, for they were hearing of the voice of the first human ever to travel to space, the voice of Yuri Gagarin.

Arto Jousi / /Suomen valokuvataiteen museohttps://commons.wikimedia.orgYuri Gagarin is a hero because of his extreme amounts of courage he showed throughout his life. This is nowhere more relevant than during his mission to space,” In the meantime, Soviet engineers were busy planning and building the Vostok capsule that would take one of the cosmonauts into space. When the U.S. space flight to be piloted by Shepard was postponed for two months, the Soviets stepped up their efforts. Soon the Vostok spaceship was ready; it only remained to choose which of the trained cosmonauts would be the one to ride in it. Finally, in the first week of April 1961, Korolev made the decision personally, after a long deliberation. Gagarin was the chosen cosmonaut, and his colleague Gherman Titov would serve as  backup.”(Lee) This is showing extreme amounts of courage because he was the FIRST person to get into a rocket, which was still a relatively new technology at this time and to fly to space in it. Another detail supporting his courage is that he kept calm during the mission and this payed off; “He was launched in Vostok 1 on the planned date, and during the crowded 1 hour 48 minutes of his single orbit of the earth he proved that man could survive in space and perform useful tasks. His mission ended at 10:55 A.M., when he landed safely in a potato field near Saratov.”(Yuri Gagarin). He kept his poise even after difficulties arouse in the landing phase, forcing him to leave the capsule, he calmly parachuted out of a ROCKET that was hurtling towards the earth. He then calmly asked a shocked woman working in the potato field he had dropped in for a phone to Moscow. These are two of many examples in Yuri Gagarin's life that demonstrate his immense courage and qualify him to have the title of a hero.

RIA Novosti archive, image #16849 / Khaliphttps://commons.wikimedia.orgGagarin also bravely pioneered the path of manned space flight, and followed by the like of the Apollo missions and greats like Armstrong, Aldrin, Ride and many more. This respect and acknowledgement came from the Americans on the moon who left one of Gagarin's medals on the moon: “In 1971 a plaque was placed on the moon by the Apollo 15 crew commemorating the contributions of those, like Gagarin, who died in the struggle to put humans in space.”(Lee). Gagarin worked hard and started the ball rolling for others to go to space. Another fine example of his pioneering and sacrifice comes from a speech he was going to make before his tragic death: “Mankind has to pay dearly for the many achievements that promote progress, frequently with all the lives of it's finest sons. But the advance of progress is inexorable. The banner of scientific achievement is picked up by others, and, true to the memory of their comrades they march on. For there is no greater happiness than to serve others.”(Gagarin). He was talking about the people who put their all into their jobs and, in this case, space travel and how there are going to be losses, but we have to keep going. Sadly he was one of those who died, in a plane crash only seven years after going to space. He loved his job and he blazed a trail for others to follow and, even after his death, is still internationally renowned and widely commemorated. His hard work and pioneering spirit are excellent reasons to call him a hero.