| Aircraft
Accidents Theodore Freeman Charles Bassett II Elliot See Clifton Williams, Jr. Robert Lawrence Michael Adams Yuri Gagarin John McKay Stephen Thorne Stanley David Griggs Manley Carter, Jr. Patricia Hilliard Robertson
Apollo 1
Soyuz 11
Challenger STS-51L
Columbia
STS-107 Other |
Born: 9 March 1934 in Klushino, USSR. Education: Graduated from Air Force Training School at Orenburg as a fighter pilot in 1957. Flew Yak and MiG aircraft. Received advanced degree from the Zhukovsky Academy, 1968. Marital Status: Married to Valentina Gagarina. Children: Yelena (10 April 1959) and Galya (7 March 1961). Other Activities: Hockey, basketball. Special Honors: Hero of the Soviet Union Number 11,175. Experience: Yuri Gagarin was selected in 1960 as a military pilot cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human to leave the earth and enter space. His one orbit mission, Vostok 1, lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. During descent at 23,000 feet he ejected from his spacecraft (as was planned for all Vostok missions) and became the first person to land separate from his spacecraft. Similar to John Glenn, Yuri was not allowed to fly another mission for some time following Vostok1. The Soviet government wanted to use from for propaganda instead. In 1962 he supervised the training of five women cosmonauts including Valentina Tereshkova, who later became the first woman in space. He then was the deputy director of the cosmonaut training center (later named the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center). Upon his return to flight status, he served as backup pilot for Soyuz 1. Had Soyuz 1 not suffered a tragic ending, Gagarin would have flown on Soyuz 3. Before Soyuz began flying again in October 1968, Gagarin was killed when his MiG-15 aircraft crashed on 27 March 1968. He was flying with pilot-instructor Vladimir Seryogin on the last refresher flight he needed before resuming solo flights in jet fighters. Quotes: When asked if he was bored during the final minutes of the countdown: "If there were some music, I could stand it a little better." Looking at back at earth from space: "It is beautiful. It is beautiful." |
