📆 #OTD in 1934, Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space who led the world into the era of space exploration, was born in the village of Klushino near the town of Gzhatsk in Smolensk region.

Since his childhood, he dreamed of becoming of pilot and in 1954, he joined the Saratov Amateur Flying Club and made his first independent flight in 1955. In 1957, Yuri Gagarin was commissioned a lieutenant in the Soviet Air Force having accumulated 166 hours and 47 minutes of flight time. In March 1960 he was admitted to the 1st cosmonaut candidate group and started the training sessions in the newly built Star City in a suburb of Moscow.

🛰 On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin’s “Vostok 1” spacecraft circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 km per hour with the flight lasting 108 minutes at at a maximum altitude of 301 km.

When responding to the ground control if he was ready, he said, “Poekhali!” (“Let’s get going!” in Russian).

👨‍🚀 During his flight, Yuri Gagarin famously whistled the tune of the traditional aviation hymn, “The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows.” The first report he sent to the ground control was, “The earth is blue. [...] How wonderful. It is amazing.”

🕊After his legendary flight he never went to space again, but took an active part in training other cosmonauts. He toured several times to other nations with a so-called Mission of Peace, and from 1962 he served as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet.

According to his friends, Yuri was not affected by his worldwide fame and remained as everyone knew him before the historic space flight – modest and kind to the people around him. He dearly loved his wife, Valentina, and his daughters.

🌐 Yuri Gagarin’s memory is cherished all over the world, with numerous monuments erected, streets, vessels and planes named after him.

Since 2000, “Yuri's Night”, an international celebration, is held annually to commemorate milestones in space exploration.

#OutstandingRussians #RussiaInSpace