Yuri Gagarin
Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, first human in space (1934-1968) · Russia · Astronauts · Died at 34
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Something wrong?On 12 April 1961, a Soviet pilot climbed into Vostok 1 and became the first human being to leave Earth. The 108-minute orbit made Yuri Gagarin an instant global icon and handed the USSR its biggest win in the Space Race.
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Born in the village of Klushino in 1934, Gagarin worked as a foundryman in a steel plant before joining the Soviet Air Forces and flying missions near the Norwegian border. He was picked for the space programme alongside five others, and his single flight into orbit on 12 April 1961 turned him into a Hero of the Soviet Union and a deputy in both chambers of the Supreme Soviet. Vostok 1 would be his only spaceflight - after serving as backup to the fatal Soyuz 1 mission that killed his friend Vladimir Komarov, officials grounded him, unwilling to risk losing a national treasure. He became deputy training director of what would later be named the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, completed engineering training in early 1968, and was cleared to fly again. Five weeks later, on 27 March 1968, the MiG-15 he was piloting with instructor Vladimir Seryogin crashed near Kirzhach.
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