THE FIRST PERSON IN SPACE

Although it took place over forty years ago, Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space is still seen as feat of breathtaking significance.

Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9 1934 in Gzhatsk, a small village about 160kms west of Moscow. He completed his studies at the Gzhatsk secondary school and began a technical apprenticeship.

At the age of 17 he moved on to an industrial training school in Saratov. It was here that he joined the local flying club and learned to fly. In 1955 he joined the Chkalovskiy Air Force training school. After graduation he served in the fighting aviation command of the North Fleet as a military pilot.

In 1959 Gagarin was one of about 3,000 candidates who applied to join the Soviet space program. After an initial screening process, 20 potential cosmonauts including Gagarin - were chosen.

On April 12, 1961, Gagarin boarded the Vostok I spaceship. The exact location of the launch site was a secret (the Soviet authorities revealed later that it was the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan). As he sat in the cramped cockpit, Gagarin was confident. When Sergei Korolev, mastermind of the Soviet space program, began the countdown, Gagarin answered: "Roger. Feeling fine, excellent spirits, ready to go."

Minutes later, Senior Lieutenant Gagarin made history. He became the first human to travel into space and the first to orbit the earth. He later recalled his impressions of what he saw: "there was a good view of the Earth which had a very distinct and a pretty blue halo. The colours blended smoothly from pale blue to blue, then dark blue to violet and absolutely black. It was a magnificent picture."

1 hour and 48 minutes after its launch the Vostok I capsule landed in the Saratov region of the USSR. Gagarin had ejected at an altitude of approximately 7 km, and landed safely by parachute. A peasant and her daughter were amazed to see a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet coming down from the sky. Gagarin later recalled, "When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging behind me, they backed away in fear. I told them, 'don't be afraid, I am a Soviet like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!'"

That day, the "ordinary" senior lieutenant became a hero of the Soviet Union and the most famous man in the world. His life changed completely. He spent the next year attending meetings, diplomatic receptions and international conferences. But he soon got tired of the adulation. His marriage suffered and he began drinking heavily. His own diary entries from the time show how keen he was to go back to the work of a cosmonaut: "I have no stronger wish than my desire to fly. A pilot should fly. Always."

At the Soviet cosmonaut base he worked on designs for a reusable spacecraft and in 1967, he was selected as backup for the first Soyuz launch. Gagarin was promoted to deputy training director at the base and he began to re-qualify as a fighter pilot. During a routine training flight, his MiG-15 fighter jet crashed. Gagarin and his instructor were killed.

There were many rumours about the causes of the accident: the famous airman had been flying drunk, that there had been a collision with a bird, Gagarin’s inexperience, even sabotage. On the 35th anniversary of the Soviet Hero’s death new light was shed on the air crash. A secret investigation by the KGB’s counter-intelligence department concluded that a series of errors by ground staff was the cause: air traffic control had given the pilots an out-of-date weather briefing. The ground crew also failed to notice that the MiG had wing-mounted fuel tanks. The exercise the pair was performing was only supposed to be conducted in good weather and using aircraft without outboard tanks.

Gagarin lives on in several ways:

- a 40m tall monument was built at the Vostok I landing site.
- his home town is now called Gagarin.
- a crater on the far side of the moon is named after him.
- the main cosmonaut training centre is called the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre

VOCABULARY(for your test and vocabulary cards)

breathtaking (collocation: a breathtaking sight)
apprenticeship
screening
mastermind
impressions
blended
ejected
adulation
rumors (British English=rumours)
to shed light on (idiom)

QUESTIONS (please do NOT answer these in the comment section of the blog. Instead, print them and give them to me in class. Thank you.)

Who was the first man in space, and what country was he from?


What do you think the peasant and her daughter thought was happening when they saw "a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet coming down from the sky"? Why were they afraid?


Why was the first man in space called "ordinary" senior lieutenant?


Why did his marriage suffer, and why did he begin drinking heavily?


Would you like to travel to space? Why or Why not?