Vostok 1 (Восток-1 - East)
Mission insignia
Mission statistics
Mission name	Vostok 1 (Восток-1 - East)
Spacecraft name	Ласточка (Lastochka - Swallow)[citation needed]
Spacecraft type	Vostok 3KA
Spacecraft mass	4,725 kg (10,420 lb)[1]
Crew size	1
Call sign	Кедр (Kedr - Siberian Pine)[2]
Launch vehicle	Vostok 8K72K
Launch pad	45°55′13″N 63°20′32″E / 45.9203°N 63.3422°E / 45.9203; 63.3422, Gagarin's Start, Baikonur Cosmodrome [3]
Launch date	April 12, 1961 06:07 (1961-04-12T06:07) UT[4]
Landing site	51°16′14″N 45°59′50″E / 51.270682°N 45.99727°E / 51.270682; 45.99727 [5][6]
Landing	April 12, 1961 07:55 (1961-04-12T07:56)
Mission duration	01:48[1]
Number of orbits	1
Apogee	327 km (203 mi)[1]
Perigee	169 km (105 mi)[4]
Orbital period	89.34 minutes[4]
Orbital inclination	64.95°[4]
Crew photo
Yuri Gagarin in Sweden.
Related missions
Previous Subsequent Korabl-Sputnik 5 Vostok 2

Vostok 1 (Russian: Восток-1, East 1 or Orient 1) was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer space, as well as the first orbital flight of a manned vehicle. Vostok 1 was launched by the Soviet space program, and was designed by Soviet engineers guided by Sergei Korolev under the supervision of Kerim Kerimov and others.^[7]

The spaceflight consisted of a single orbit of the Earth (to this date the shortest orbital manned spaceflight). According to official records, the spaceflight took 108 minutes from launch to landing. As planned, Gagarin landed separately from his spacecraft, having ejected with a parachute 7 km (23,000 ft) above ground. Due to the secrecy surrounding the Soviet space program at the time, many details of the spaceflight only came to light years later, and several details in the original press releases turned out to be false.

Background[link]

The world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, had been put into orbit by the Soviets in 1957, and this could be considered the beginning of the Space Race, between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both nations wanted to develop their spaceflight technology quickly, and in particular, both wanted to be the first to launch a successful human spaceflight. The Soviet programme for doing this was the Vostok programme. Prior to a manned spaceflight, the Soviets launched several precursor unmanned missions between May 1960 and March 1961, to test and develop the Vostok rocket and Vostok spacecraft technology. These missions had varied success, but the final two unmanned missions—Korabl-Sputnik 4 and Korabl-Sputnik 5—were outright successes, opening the door for a manned flight.

Crew[link]

See also Selection and training of the Vostok programme

27 year-old Yuri Gagarin was the only crew member of Vostok 1. The Vostok spacecraft were designed to carry a single cosmonaut. The primary and secondary backup cosmonauts for the mission were Gherman Titov and Grigori Nelyubov. The assignments were formally made on April 8, four days before the mission, but Gagarin had been a favourite among the cosmonaut candidates for at least several months.^[8]:262,272

The final decision of who would fly the mission relied heavily on the opinion of Nikolai Kamanin. In an April 5 diary entry, Kamanin wrote that he was still undecided between Gagarin and Titov.^[9] He wrote: "The only thing that keeps me from picking [Titov] is the need to have the stronger person for the one day flight."^[10] Kamanin was referring to the second mission, Vostok 2, which would last a full day, compared to the relatively short single-orbit mission of Vostok 1. When Gagarin and Titov were informed of the decision during a meeting on April 9, Gagarin was very happy, and Titov was disappointed.^[11] On April 10, this meeting was reenacted in front of television cameras, so there would be official footage of the event. This included an acceptance speech by Gagarin.^[12] As an indication of the level of secrecy involved, one of the other cosmonaut candidates, Alexey Leonov, later recalled that he didn't know who was chosen for the mission until after the spaceflight had begun.^[13]

Medical exam[link]

Gagarin was examined by a team of doctors prior to his flight. One doctor gave her recollection of the events in an interview with RT in April 2011: "Gagarin looked more pale than usual. He was unsociable and quiet, which was not like him at all. He would answer by nodding or a short 'yes' to all questions. Sometimes he would start humming some tunes. This was a different Gagarin. We geared him up, and hugged. And I said, "Yuri, everything will be fine." And he nodded back." ^[14]

Preparations[link]

Unlike later Vostok missions, there were no dedicated tracking ships available to receive signals from the spacecraft. Instead they relied on the network of ground stations, also called Command Points to communicate with the spacecraft; all of these Command Points were located within the Soviet Union.^[15]

Because of weight constraints, there was no backup retrorocket engine. The spacecraft carried 10 days of provisions to allow for survival and natural decay of the orbit in the event the retrorockets failed.

Automatic control[link]

The entire mission would be controlled by either automatic systems, or by ground control. This was because medical staff and spacecraft engineers were unsure how a human might react to weightlessness, and therefore it was decided to lock the pilot's manual controls. In an unusual move, a code to unlock the controls was placed in an onboard envelope, for Gagarin's use in case of emergency.^[8]:278 But prior to the flight, Kamanin told Gagarin the code anyway.^[16]

April 11, 1961[link]

On Baikonur cosmodrome on the morning of April 11, 1961, the Vostok-K rocket, together with the attached Vostok 3KA spacecraft, were transported several miles to the launch pad, in a horizontal position. Once they arrived at the launch pad, Sergei Korolev inspected the rocket and spacecraft for problems, and without finding any, the rocket was raised into the upright position.^[17] At 10am (Moscow Time), Gagarin and Titov were given a final review of the flight plan.^[17] They were informed that launch was scheduled to occur at 9:07am Moscow Time. This time was chosen so that when the spacecraft started to fly over Africa, which was when the retrorockets would need to fire for reentry, the solar illumination would be ideal for the orientation system's sensors.^[18]

At 6 pm, once various physiological readings had been taken, the doctors instructed the cosmonauts not to discuss the upcoming missions. That evening Gagarin and Titov relaxed by listening to music, playing pool, and chatting about their childhoods.^[13] At 9:50 pm, both men were offered sleeping pills, to ensure a good night's sleep, but they both declined.^[19] Physicians had attached sensors to the cosmonauts, to monitor their condition throughout the night, and they believed that both had slept well.^[20] Gagarin's biographers Doran and Bizony, say that neither Gagarin nor Titov slept that night.^[21] Korolev didn't sleep that night, due to anxiety caused by the imminent spaceflight.^[18]

Mission[link]

At 5:30 am Moscow time, on the morning of April 12, 1961, both Gagarin and his backup Titov were woken.^[22] They were given breakfast, assisted into their spacesuits, and then were transported to the launch pad.^[23] Gagarin entered the Vostok 1 spacecraft, and at 7:10 am local time (04:10 UT), the radio communication system was turned on.^[23] Once Gagarin was in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, his picture appeared on television screens in the launch control room from an onboard camera. Launch would not occur for another two hours, and during the time Gagarin chatted with the mission's main CapCom, as well as Chief Designer Sergei Korolev, Nikolai Kamanin, and a few others.^[23] Following a series of tests and checks, about forty minutes after Gagarin entered the spacecraft, its hatch was closed. It was soon discovered that the seal was not complete, so technicians spent nearly an hour removing all the screws and sealing the hatch again.^[2]

During this time Gagarin requested some music to be played over the radio.^[24] Sergei Korolev was very nervous in the lead up to the launch; he experienced chest pains, and took a pill to calm his heart.^[25] Gagarin, on the other hand, was described as calm; about half an hour before launch his pulse was recorded at 64 beats per minute.^[26]

Launch[link]

• 06:07 UT Launch occurs from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Site No.1. Korolev radioed, "Preliminary stage..... intermediate..... main..... LIFT OFF! We wish you a good flight. Everything is all right." Gagarin replied, "Поехали! (Let's ride!)."^[27]
• 06:09 UT Two minutes into the flight and the four strap-on booster sections of the Vostok rocket have used up the last of their propellant; they shut down and drop away from the core vehicle. (T+ 119 s)
• 06:10 UT The payload shroud covering Vostok 1 is released. This uncovers the window at Gagarin's feet with the optical orientation device Vzor (lit. "look" or "glance"). (T+ 156 s)
• 06:12 UT Five minutes into the flight and the Vostok rocket core stage has used up its propellant, shuts down and falls away from the Vostok spacecraft and final rocket stage. The final rocket stage ignites to continue the journey to orbit. (T+ 300 s)
• 06:13 UT The rocket is still firing, pushing Vostok 1 toward orbit. Gagarin reports, "...the flight is continuing well. I can see the Earth. The visibility is good.... I almost see everything. There's a certain amount of space under cumulus cloud cover. I continue the flight, everything is good."

• 06:14 UT The rocket continues to fire, starting to pass over central Russia. Gagarin reports, "Everything is working very well. All systems are working. Let's keep going!"
• 06:15 UT Three minutes into the burn of the final rocket stage and Gagarin reports, "Zarya-1, Zarya-1, I can't hear you very well. I feel fine. I'm in good spirits. I'm continuing the flight..." Vostok 1 is moving further downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. He is reporting back to Zarya-1 (the Baikonur ground station) and must be starting to move out of radio range of that station.

Time in orbit[link]

Ground controllers did not know if a stable orbit had been achieved until 25 minutes after launch.

• 06:17 UT The Vostok rocket final stage shuts down, ten seconds later the spacecraft separates and Vostok 1 reaches orbit. (T+ 676 s) Gagarin reports, "The craft is operating normally. I can see Earth in the view port of the Vzor. Everything is proceeding as planned". Vostok 1 passes over Soviet Union and moves on over Siberia.

Part of the Vostok 1 control panel

• 06:21 UT Vostok 1 passes over the Kamchatka peninsula and out over the North Pacific Ocean. Gagarin radios, "...the lights are on on the descent mode monitor. I'm feeling fine, and I'm in good spirits. Cockpit parameters: pressure 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in the compartment 1; first automatic 155; second automatic 155; pressure in the retro-rocket system 320 atmospheres...."
• 06:25 UT As Vostok 1 begins its diagonal crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka peninsula to the southern tip of South America, Gagarin asks, "What can you tell me about the flight? What can you tell me?". He is requesting information about his orbital parameters. The ground station at Khabarovsk reports back, "There are no instructions from No. 20 (Sergey Korolyov), and the flight is proceeding normally" They are telling Gagarin that they don't have his orbital parameters yet because the spacecraft has been in orbit for only 6 minutes, but the spacecraft systems are performing well.
• 06:31 UT Gagarin transmits to the Khabarovsk ground station, "I feel splendid, very well, very well, very well. Give me some results on the flight!". Vostok 1 is nearing the VHF radio horizon for Khabarovsk and they respond, "Repeat. I can't hear you very well". Gagarin transmits again, "I feel very good. Give me your data on the flight!" Vostok 1 passes out of VHF range of the Khabarovsk ground station and contact is lost.
• 06:37 UT Vostok 1 continues on its journey as the Sun sets over the North Pacific. Gagarin crosses into night, northwest of the Hawaiian Islands. Out of VHF range with ground stations, communications must now take place via HF radio.
• 06:46 UT Khabarovsk ground station sends the message "KK" via telegraph (on HF radio to Vostok 1). This message means, "Report the monitoring of commands." They were asking Gagarin to report when the spacecraft automated descent system had received its instructions from the ground control. Gagarin reported back at 06:48 UT.
• 06:48 UT Vostok 1 crosses the equator at about 170° West, traveling in a south east direction and begins crossing the South Pacific. Gagarin transmits over HF radio, "I am transmitting the regular report message: 9 hours 48 minutes (Moscow Time), the flight is proceeding successfully. Spusk-1 is operating normally. The mobile index of the descent mode monitor is moving. Pressure in the cockpit is 1; humidity 65; temperature 20; pressure in the compartment 1.2 ... Manual 150; First automatic 155; second automatic 155; retro rocket system tanks 320 atmospheres. I feel fine...."
• 06:49 UT Gagarin reports he is on the night side of the Earth.
• 06:51 UT Gagarin reports the sun-seeking attitude control system has been switched on. The sun-seeking attitude control system is used to orient Vostok 1 for retrofire. The automated orientation system consisted of two redundant systems: an automatic/solar orientation system and a manual/visual orientation system. Either system could operate the two redundant cold nitrogen gas thruster systems, each with 10 kg (22 lb) of gas.
• 06:53 UT The Khabarovsk ground station sends Gagarin the following message via HF radio, "By order of No.33 (General Nikolai Kamanin) the transmitters have been switched on, and we are transmitting this: the flight is proceeding as planned and the orbit is as calculated." They tell Gagarin that Vostok 1 is in a stable orbit. He acknowledges the message.
• 06:57 UT Vostok 1 is over the South Pacific between New Zealand and Chile when Gagarin sends this message, "...I'm continuing the flight, and I'm over America. I transmitted the telegraph signal "ON".
• 07:00 UT Vostok 1 crosses the Strait of Magellan at the tip of South America. News of the Vostok 1 mission is broadcast on Radio Moscow.

Path of Gagarin's complete orbit; the landing point is west of the takeoff point because of the eastward rotation of the Earth.

• 07:04 UT Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, similar to the one sent at 06:48. The message is not received by ground stations.
• 07:09 UT Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, the message is not received by ground stations.
• 07:10 UT Passing over the South Atlantic, the Sun rises and Vostok 1 is in daylight again. Vostok 1 is 15 minutes from retrofire.
• 07:13 UT Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, similar to the one sent at 06:48. Moscow picks up this partial message from Gagarin, "I read you well. The flight is going...."
• 07:18 UT Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, the message is not received by ground stations.
• 07:23 UT Gagarin sends spacecraft status message, the message is not received by ground stations.

The automatic system brought Vostok 1 into alignment for retrofire about 1 hour into the flight.

Reentry and landing[link]

At 07:25 UT, the spacecraft's automatic systems brought it into the required attitude (orientation) for the reentry engine firing, and shortly afterwards, the engine firing occurred, also known as retrofire. This took place over the west coast of Africa, near Angola, about 8,000 km (5,000 mi) from the desired landing point. The liquid-fueled retrorockets fired for about 42 seconds.

Ten seconds after retrofire, commands were sent to separate the Vostok service module from the reentry module (sharik), but the Vostok equipment module unexpectedly remained attached to the reentry module by a bundle of wires. At around 07:35 UT, the two halves of the spacecraft begin reentry and went through strong gyrations as Vostok 1 neared Egypt. At this point the wires broke, the two modules separated, and the descent module settled into the proper reentry attitude. Gagarin telegraphed "Everything is OK" despite continuing gyrations; he later reported that he did not want to "make noise" as he had (correctly) reasoned that the gyrations did not endanger the mission (and were apparently caused by the spherical shape of the reentry module).

As Gagarin continued his descent, he experienced about 8 g (Gagarin's own report states "over 10 g") during reentry but remained conscious.

The Vostok 1 capsule on display at the RKK Energiya museum

In case of reentry engine malfunction, the spacecraft was designed to descend within 10 days due to orbital decay. However, the actual orbit differed from the planned and would not have allowed descent until 20 days postlaunch while the life support system was designed to function for only 10 days.^[28]

At 07:55 UT, when Vostok 1 was still 7 km from the ground, the hatch of the spacecraft was released, and two seconds later Gagarin was ejected. At 2.5 km (8,200 ft) altitude, the main parachute was deployed from the Vostok spacecraft. Two schoolgirls witnessed the Vostok landing and described the scene: "It was a huge ball, about two or three metres high. It fell, then it bounced and then it fell again. There was a huge hole where it hit the first time."

Gagarin's parachute opened almost right away, and about ten minutes later, at 08:05 UT, Gagarin landed. Both he and the spacecraft landed via parachute 26 km (16 mi) south west of Engels, in the Saratov region at 51°16′14″N 45°59′50″E / 51.270682°N 45.99727°E / 51.270682; 45.99727. It was 280 km to the west of the planned landing site (near Baikonur).^[28]

A farmer and her daughter observed the strange scene of a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet landing near them by parachute. Gagarin later recalled, "When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging alongside as I walked, they started to back away in fear. I told them, don't be afraid, I am a Soviet citizen like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!"

Reactions and legacy[link]

Soviet reaction[link]

The Soviet press later reported that minutes before boarding the spacecraft Gagarin made a speech: "Dear friends, you who are close to me, and you whom I do not know, fellow Russians, and people of all countries and all continents: in a few minutes a powerful space vehicle will carry me into the distant realm of space. What can I tell you in these last minutes before the launch? My whole life appears to me as one beautiful moment. All that I previously lived through and did, was lived through and done for the sake of this moment." He actually recorded the speech.^[8]:274

American reaction[link]

Officially, the U.S. congratulated the Soviet Union on its accomplishments.^[29]

Writing for the New York Times shortly after the flight, however, journalist Arthur Krock described mixed feelings in the United States due to fears of the spaceflight's potential military implications for the Cold War,^[30] and the Detroit Free Press wrote that "the people of Washington, London, Paris and all points between might have been dancing in the streets" if it were not for "doubts and suspicions" about Soviet intentions.^[31] Other US writers reported worries that the spaceflight had won a propaganda victory on behalf of Communism.^[32][33] President John F. Kennedy was quoted as saying that it would be "some time" before the US could match the Soviet launch vehicle technology, and that "the news will be worse before it's better."^[32] Kennedy also sent congratulations to the Soviet Union for their "outstanding technical achievement."^[32] Opinion pages of many US newspapers urged renewed efforts to overtake the Soviet scientific accomplishments.^[31]

Adlai Stevenson, then the US ambassador to the United Nations, was quoted as saying, "Now that the Soviet scientists have put a man into space and brought him back alive, I hope they will also help to bring the United Nations back alive,"^[31] and on a more serious note urged international agreements covering the use of space^[31] (which did not occur until the Outer Space Treaty of 1967).

Other world reactions[link]

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India praised the Soviets for "a great victory of man over the forces of nature"^[32] and urged that it be "considered as a victory for peace."^[31] The Economist voiced worries that orbital platforms might be used for surprise nuclear attacks.^[31] The Svenska Dagbladet in Sweden chided "free countries" for "splitting up and frittering away" their resources,^[31] while West Germany's Die Welt argued that America had the resources to have sent a man into space first but was beaten by Soviet purposefulness.^[31] Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun urged "that both the United States and the Soviet Union should use their new knowledge and techniques for the good of mankind,"^[31] and Egypt's Akhbar El Yom likewise expressed hopes that the cold war would "turn into a peaceful race in infinite space" and turn away from armed conflicts such as the Laotian Civil War.^[31]

World record[link]

The FAI rules in 1961 required that a pilot must land with the spacecraft to be considered an official spaceflight for the FAI record books.^[8]:283 Although some contemporary Soviet sources stated that Gagarin had parachuted separately to the ground,^[34] the Soviet Union officially insisted that he had landed with the Vostok; the government forced the cosmonaut to lie in press conferences, and the FAI certified the flight. The Soviet Union did not admit until 1971 that Gagarin had ejected and landed separately from the Vostok descent module.^[8]:283

When Soviet officials filled out the FAI papers to register the flight of Vostok 1, they stated that the launch site was Baykonur at 47°22′00″N 65°29′00″E / 47.3666667°N 65.4833333°E / 47.3666667; 65.4833333. In reality, the launch site was near Tyuratam at 45°55′12.72″N 63°20′32.32″E / 45.9202°N 63.3423111°E / 45.9202; 63.3423111, 250 km (160 mi) to the south west of "Baykonur". They did this to try to keep the location of the Space Center a secret.^[8]:284 In 1995, Russian and Kazakh officials renamed Tyuratam Baikonur.

Legacy[link]

Four decades after the flight, historian Asif Siddiqi wrote that Vostok 1

will undoubtedly remain one of the major milestones in not only the history of space exploration, but also the history of the human race itself. The fact that this accomplishment was successfully carried out by the Soviet Union, a country completely devastated by war just sixteen years prior, makes the achievement even more impressive. Unlike the United States, the USSR had to begin from a position of tremendous disadvantage. Its industrial infrastructure had been ruined, and its technological capabilities were outdated at best. A good portion of its land had been devastated by war, and it had lost about 25 million citizens ... but it was the totalitarian state that overwhelmingly took the lead [in the space race].^[8]:282

Commemorative monument, Vostok-1 landing site near Engels, Russia.

The landing site is now a monument park. The central feature in the park is a 25 meter tall monument that consists of a silver metallic rocketship rising on a curved metallic column of flame, from a wedge shaped, white stone base. In front of this is a 3 meter tall, white stone statue of Yuri Gagarin, wearing a spacesuit, with one arm raised in greeting and the other holding a space helmet.^[35][36][37]

The Vostok 1 re-entry capsule is now on display at the RKK Energiya museum in Korolyov, near Moscow.

In 2011, documentary film maker Christopher Riley partnered with European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli to record a new film of what Gagarin would have seen of the Earth from his spaceship, by matching historical audio recordings to video from the International Space Station following the ground path taken by Vostok 1. The resulting film, First Orbit, was released online to celebrate the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight.^[38]

See also[link]

• Vostok, the lead ship of Faddey Bellingshausen, who discovered Antarctica during the First Russian Antarctic Expedition. Some sources connect the name Vostok 1 to Bellingshausen's ship.^[39]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Colin Burgess, Rex Hall (June 2, 2010). The first Soviet cosmonaut team: their lives, legacy, and historical impact. Praxis. pp. 356. ISBN 0-387-84823-1. 
• Rex Hall, David Shayler (May 18, 2001). The rocket men: Vostok & Voskhod, the first Soviet manned spaceflights. Springer. pp. 350. ISBN 1-85233-391-X. 

External links[link]

• Gagarin's Start - short video by Roscosmos including the preparation, Gagarin's flight, and Gagrin back on Earth
• Vostok 1 - Encyclopedia Astronautica
• The First Man In Space - NASA/JPL translation of Soviet Radio and Newspaper Reports - May 1, 1961
• An analysis of the flight of Vostok 1 - Sven Grahn
• (Russian) transcript of Gagarin's radio conversations with ground stations, starting 2hrs before launch, and other related documents
• Sotheby Auction House Results

v t e Vostok programme Unmanned: Korabl-Sputnik 1 Vostok-1K No.1 Korabl-Sputnik 2 Korabl-Sputnik 3 Vostok-1K No.4 Korabl-Sputnik 4 Korabl-Sputnik 5 Manned: Vostok 1 Vostok 2 Vostok 3 Vostok 4 Vostok 5 Vostok 6 Cancelled: Vostok 7 to 13, incorporated into Voskhod programme

Vostok (Russian: Восто́к, IPA: [vɐˈstok], Orient or East) may refer to:

Spaceflight

• Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project
• Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union
• Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka ICBM designed for the human spaceflight programme
• Vostok (crater), a crater explored by the Mars rover Opportunity
• Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight

Other meanings

• Vostok (sloop-of-war), a ship of Faddey Bellingshausen during the First Russian Antarctic Expedition, when Antarctica was discovered
• Vostok Island, located in the south of Kiribati's Line Islands
• Cape Vostok, the west extremity of the Havre Mountains and the northwest extremity of Alexander Island in Antarctic
• Vostok Station, Russian (originally Soviet) Antarctic research station
• Lake Vostok, a subglacial lake in Antarctica, located beneath Vostok Station
• Vostok Subglacial Highlands, an east extension of Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains in Antarctica
• Vostok Rupes, a mountain chain on planet Mercury
• Vostok traverse, a 1962 Australian expedition across Antarctica
• Vostok watches is a brand of watch, made in Chistopol, Tatarstan, Russia
• Vostok, Primorsky Krai, an urban-type settlement in Krasnoarmeysky District of Primorsky Krai, Russia
• Vostok Bay, bay in south Primorsky Krai, Russia
• Vostok, an Xbox-exclusive map to the game Counter-Strike
• Valentina Vostok, a fictional character by DC Comics
• Vostok (Minsk Metro), a station of Minsk Metro, Minsk, Belarus
• Vostok motorcycles, a motorcycle company
• Vostok Gas, a Bermuda-based oil and gas investment company
• FC Vostok, a Kazakhstani football club
• Special Battalion Vostok, Chechen military unit.
• Vostok Games, a Ukrainian game developer.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Yuri Gagarin Юрий Гагарин
Soviet cosmonaut The first human in space
Nationality	Soviet
Status	Deceased
Born	(1934-03-09)9 March 1934 Klushino, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died	27 March 1968(1968-03-27) (aged 34) Novosyolovo, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Other occupation	Pilot
Rank	Colonel (Polkovnik), Soviet Air Forces
Time in space	1 hour, 48 minutes
Selection	Air Force Group 1
Missions	Vostok 1
Mission insignia
Awards

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин,^[1] Russian pronunciation: [ˈjurʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡɐˈɡarʲɪn]; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and honours, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation's highest honour. Vostok 1 marked his only spaceflight, but he served as backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission (which ended in a fatal crash). Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, which was later named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when a MiG 15 training jet he was piloting crashed.

Early life[link]

Yuri Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia), on 9 March 1934.^[2] The adjacent town of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin in 1968 in his honour. His parents, Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina, worked on a collective farm.^[3] While manual labourers are described in official reports as "peasants", his mother was reportedly a voracious reader, and his father a skilled carpenter. Yuri was the third of four children, and his elder sister helped raise him while his parents worked. Like millions of people in the Soviet Union, the Gagarin family suffered during Nazi occupation in World War II. After a German officer took over their house, the family constructed a small mud hut where they spent a year and nine months until the end of the occupation.^[4] His two older siblings were deported to Nazi Germany for slave labour in 1943, and did not return until after the war. In 1946, the family moved to Gzhatsk.^[4]

Career in the Soviet Air Force[link]

In his youth, Gagarin became interested in space and planets.^[5] After studying for one year at a vocational technical school in Lyubertsy, Gagarin was selected for further training at a technical high school in Saratov. While there, he joined the "AeroClub", and learned to fly a light aircraft, a hobby that would take up an increasing portion of his time.

In 1955, after completing his technical schooling, he entered military flight training at the Orenburg Pilot's School. While there he met Valentina Goryacheva, whom he married in 1957, after gaining his pilot's wings in a MiG-15. Post-graduation, he was assigned to Luostari airbase in Murmansk Oblast, close to the Norwegian border, where terrible weather made flying risky. He became a Lieutenant in the Soviet Air Force on 5 November 1957 and on 6 November 1959 he received the rank of Senior Lieutenant.^[6]

Career in the Soviet space program[link]

Selection and training[link]

In 1960, after the search and selection process, Yuri Gagarin was chosen with 19 other pilots for the Soviet space program. Gagarin was further selected for an elite training group known as the Sochi Six from which the first cosmonauts of the Vostok programme would be chosen. Gagarin and other prospective cosmonauts were subjected to experiments designed to test physical and psychological endurance; he also underwent training for the upcoming flight. Out of the twenty selected, the eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov because of their performance in training, as well as their physical characteristics — space was at a premium in the small Vostok cockpit and both men were rather short. Gagarin was 1.57 metres (5 ft 2 in) tall, which was an advantage in the small Vostok cockpit.^[3]

In August 1960, when Gagarin was one of 20 possible candidates, an Air Force doctor evaluated his personality as follows:

[M]odest; embarrasses when his humor gets a little too racy; high degree of intellectual development evident in Yuriy; fantastic memory; distinguishes himself from his colleagues by his sharp and far-ranging sense of attention to his surroundings; a well-developed imagination; quick reactions; persevering, prepares himself painstakingly for his activities and training exercises, handles celestial mechanics and mathematical formulae with ease as well as excels in higher mathematics; does not feel constrained when he has to defend his point of view if he considers himself right; appears that he understands life better than a lot of his friends.

—Soviet Air Force doctor, ^[7]

Gagarin was also a favoured candidate by his peers. When the 20 candidates were asked to anonymously vote for which other candidate they would like to see as the first to fly, all but three chose Gagarin.^[8] One of these candidates, Yevgeny Khrunov, believed that Gagarin was very focused, and was demanding of himself and others when necessary.^[9]

Gagarin kept physically fit throughout his life, and was a keen sportsman. Cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky wrote:

In addition to being a keen ice hockey player, Gagarin was also a basketball fan, and coached the Saratov Industrial Technical School team, as well as being an umpire/referee.^[11]

Space flight[link]

Vostok I capsule on display at the RKK Energiya museum

On 12 April 1961, aboard the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1), Gagarin became both the first human to travel into space, and the first to orbit the earth. His call sign was Kedr (Siberian Pine, Russian: Кедр).^[12]

In his post-flight report, Gagarin recalled his experience of spaceflight, having been the first human in space:

The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended.^[13]

Following the flight, Gagarin told the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that during reentry he had whistled the tune "The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows" (Russian: "Родина слышит, Родина знает").^[14][15] The first two lines of the song are: "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky".^[16] This patriotic song was written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1951 (opus 86), with words by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky.

Some sources have claimed that Gagarin commented during the flight, "I don't see any God up here." However, no such words appear in the verbatim record of his conversations with Earth-based stations during the spaceflight.^[17] In a 2006 interview, Gagarin's friend Colonel Valentin Petrov stated that the cosmonaut never said such words, and that the quote originated from Nikita Khrushchev's speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU about the state's anti-religion campaign, saying "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god there."^[18] Petrov also said that Gagarin had been baptised into the Orthodox Church as a child, and a 2011 Foma magazine article quoted the rector of the Orthodox church in Star City saying, "Gagarin baptized his elder daughter Elena shortly before his space flight; and his family used to celebrate Christmas and Easter and keep icons in the house."^[19]

After Vostok 1[link]

A postcard with an image of Yuri Gagarin

After the flight, Gagarin became a worldwide celebrity, touring widely abroad. He visited Italy, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Egypt^[20] and Finland to promote the Soviet Union's accomplishment of putting the first human in space. He visited the United Kingdom three months after the Vostok 1 mission, visiting the cities of London and Manchester, the latter of which has been fondly remembered by locals.^[21][22]

The sudden rise to national and international fame took its toll on Gagarin. In attending various functions and receptions in his honour, he consumed large amounts of vodka and other alcoholic beverages, even though otherwise he was not a regular drinker. His physical appearance changed and he became noticeably heavier. The attention of female fans took a toll on his marriage. It was rumoured that his wife once caught him in a hotel room with another woman and Gagarin jumped out of the second floor window and hit his face on a kerbstone, which resulted in a deep cut above his left eye. The scar remained visible after the incident.^[23]

In 1962, he began serving as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. He later returned to Star City, the cosmonaut facility, where he spent seven years working on designs for a reusable spacecraft. He became Lieutenant Colonel (or Podpolkovnik) of the Soviet Air Force on 12 June 1962 and on 6 November 1963 he received the rank of Colonel (Polkovnik) of the Soviet Air Force.^[6] Soviet officials tried to keep him away from any flights, being worried of losing their hero in an accident. Gagarin was backup pilot for his friend Vladimir Komarov in the Soyuz 1 flight, which was launched despite Gagarin's protests that additional safety precautions were needed.^[24] When Komarov's flight ended in a fatal crash, Gagarin was ultimately banned from training for and participating in further spaceflights.

Gagarin had become deputy training director of the Star City cosmonaut training base. At the same time, he began to re-qualify as a fighter pilot.

Death[link]

On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, he and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach. The bodies of Gagarin and Seryogin were cremated and the ashes were buried in the walls of the Kremlin on Red Square. Gagarin was survived by his wife Valentina, and daughters Elena and Galina. Elena Gagarina, Yuri's elder daughter, is an art historian who works as a director-general of the Moscow Kremlin Museums since 2001.^[25] His younger daughter, Galina, is a department chair at Plekhanov Russian Economic University in Moscow.^[26]

Cause of jet crash[link]

The cause of the crash that killed Gagarin is not entirely certain, and has been subject to speculation and conspiracy theories over the ensuing decades.

Soviet documents declassified in March 2003 showed that the KGB had conducted their own investigation of the accident, in addition to one government and two military investigations. The KGB's report dismissed various conspiracy theories, instead indicating that the actions of air base personnel contributed to the crash. The report states that an air traffic controller provided Gagarin with outdated weather information, and that by the time of his flight, conditions had deteriorated significantly. Ground crew also left external fuel tanks attached to the aircraft. Gagarin's planned flight activities needed clear weather and no outboard tanks. The investigation concluded that Gagarin's aircraft entered a spin, either due to a bird strike or because of a sudden move to avoid another aircraft. Because of the out-of-date weather report, the crew believed their altitude to be higher than it actually was, and could not properly react to bring the MiG-15 out of its spin.^[27]

In his 2004 book Two Sides of the Moon, Alexey Leonov recounts that he was flying a helicopter in the same area that day when he heard "two loud booms in the distance." Corroborating other theories, his conclusion is that a Sukhoi jet (which he identifies as a Su-15 'Flagon') was flying below its minimum allowed altitude, and "without realizing it because of the terrible weather conditions, he passed within 10 or 20 meters of Yuri and Seregin's plane while breaking the sound barrier." The resulting turbulence would have sent the MiG into an uncontrolled spin. Leonov believes the first boom he heard was that of the jet breaking the sound barrier, and the second was Gagarin's plane crashing.^[28]

Another theory, advanced by the original crash investigator in 2005, hypothesizes that a cabin air vent was accidentally left open by the crew or the previous pilot, leading to oxygen deprivation and leaving the crew incapable of controlling the aircraft.^[29] A similar theory, published in Air & Space magazine, is that the crew detected the open vent and followed procedure by executing a rapid dive to a lower altitude. This dive caused them to lose consciousness and crash.^[30]

On 12 April 2007, the Kremlin vetoed a new investigation into the death of Gagarin. Government officials said that they saw no reason to begin a new investigation.^[31]

In April 2011, documents from a 1968 commission set up by the Central Committee of the Communist Party to investigate the accident were declassified. Those documents revealed that the commission's original conclusion was that Gagarin or Seryogin had maneuvered sharply either to avoid a weather balloon, leading the jet into a "super-critical flight regime and to its stalling in complex meteorological conditions," or to avoid "entry into the upper limit of the first layer of cloud cover".^[32]

Legacy and tributes[link]

Legacy[link]

Aside from his short stature at 1.57 metres (5 ft 2 in), one of Gagarin's most notable traits was his smile.^[33] Many commented on how Gagarin's smile gained the attention of many in the crowd on the frequent tours Gagarin did in the months after the Vostok 1 mission success.^[34]

Gagarin also garnered a reputation as an adept public figure. When he visited Manchester in the United Kingdom, it was pouring with rain; however, Gagarin insisted that the car hood remain back so that the cheering crowds could catch a glimpse of him. Gagarin stated, "If all these people have turned out to welcome me and can stand in the rain, so can I." Gagarin refused an umbrella and remained standing in his open-top Bentley so that the cheering crowds could still see him.^[35]

Sergei Korolev, one of the masterminds behind the early years of the Soviet space program, later said that Gagarin possessed a smile "that lit up the Cold War".^[36]

Gagarin was also honored by the American space program during Apollo 11 when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left on the surface of the Moon a memorial bag containing medals commemorating Gagarin and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. On 1 August 1971, Apollo 15 astonauts David Scott and James Irwin left the Fallen Astronaut on the surface of the Moon as a memorial to all the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts that died in the Space Race, with Yuri Gagarin listed among 14 others.

Tributes[link]

Russian Rouble commemorating Gagarin in 2001

There were two commemorative coins issued in the Soviet Union to commemorate 20th and 30th anniversaries of his flight: 1 ruble coin (1981, copper-nickel) and 3 ruble coin (1991, silver). In 2001, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, a series of four coins bearing his likeness was issued in Russia: 2 ruble coin (copper-nickel), 3 ruble coin (silver), 10 ruble coin (brass-copper, nickel), and 100 ruble coin (silver).^[37] In 2011, Russia issued a 1,000 ruble coin (gold) and 3 ruble coin (silver) to mark the 50th anniversary of his flight.^[38]

Yuri Gagarin statue in London, near Admiralty Arch

Gagarin Raion in the Sevastopol city (Ukraine) was named after him during the Soviet Union.

In 2008, the Kontinental Hockey League named their championship trophy the Gagarin Cup.^[39]

In a 2010 Space Foundation survey, Gagarin was ranked as the #6 most popular space hero, tied with Star Trek's fictional Capt. James T. Kirk.^[40]

In January 2011, Armenian airline Armavia named their first Sukhoi Superjet 100 in Gagarin's honour.^[41]

On 14 July 2011, a copy of the Yuri Gagarin Statue from outside his former school in Lyubertsy was unveiled at the Admiralty Arch end of The Mall in London, opposite the permanent sculpture of James Cook.^[42]

50th anniversary[link]

The 50th anniversary of Gagarin's journey into space was marked in 2011 by tributes around the world. A film entitled First Orbit was shot from the International Space Station, combining the original flight audio with footage of the route taken by Gagarin.^[43] The Russian, American, and Italian Expedition 27 crew aboard the ISS sent a special video message to wish the people of the world a "Happy Yuri's Night", wearing shirts with an image of Gagarin.^[44]

Swiss-based German watchmaker Bernhard Lederer created a limited edition of 50 Gagarin Tourbillons to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight.^[45]

The launch of Soyuz TMA-21 on 4 April 2011 was devoted to the 50th anniversary of the first manned space mission.^[46]

Honours and awards[link]

This article incorporates information from the Russian Wikipedia.

• Hero of the Soviet Union (14 April 1961)
• Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR (27 June 1961)
• Hero of Socialist Labour (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, 29 April 1961)
• Hero of Socialist Labour, (People's Republic of Bulgaria, 24 May 1961)
• Hero of Labour, (Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 28 April 1962)
• President of the Soviet-Cuban friendship
• Honorary Member of the Society, "the Finland-Soviet Union"
• Honorary member of the International Academy of Astronautics (1966)
• Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1961, title obtained as a reward for a space flight)
• Military Pilot 1st Class (1961, awarded the qualification of space flight)
• Honorary suvorovets (Moscow Suvorov Military School, 1962)
• Order of Lenin (USSR, 14 April 1961)
• Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 24 May 1961)
• Order of the Star, 2nd Class (Indonesia, 10 June 1961)
• Cross of Grunwald, 1st class (Poland, 20 June 1961)
• The first Commander of the Order "Playa Giron" (Cuba, 18 July 1961)
• "For achievements in aeronautics" (Brazil, 2 August 1961)
• Order of the Flag of the Hungarian Republic, 1st class with diamonds (Hungary, 21 August 1961)
• Order of Karl Marx (German Democratic Republic, 22 October 1963)
• Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovak Socialist Republic)
• Order of the Nile (Egypt, 31 January 1962)
• Order of the African Star (Liberia, 6 February 1962)
• Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (USSR, 1958)
• Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (USSR, 9 May 1965)
• Medal "For Impeccable Service", 3rd class (Soviet Union, March 1966)
• Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (USSR, January 1968) [32]
• Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal "for outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications" (USSR)
• Medal of de Lavaux (FAI)
• Gold Medal of the Austrian Government, 1962
• Gold medal and diploma "Man in Space," the Italian Association of Space
• Gold Medal "For outstanding difference" and the Royal Aero Club Diploma, Sweden
• Gold Medal of the British Society for interplanetary travel, 1961
• Medal of Columbus (Italy)
• Gold Medal of Saint-Denis (France)
• Gold Medal Award "for courage" of the Fund Matstsotti (Italy), 2007

and others.

Yuri Gagarin was elected an honorary citizen of the cities of Kaluga, Novozybkov, Novocherkassk, Lyubertsy, Sumqayit, Smolensk, Vinnytsia and Sevastopol, Saratov, Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Tyumen (the USSR), Orenburg (Russia), Sofia, Pernik, Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Athens (Greece), Famagusta, Limassol (Cyprus), Saint-Denis (France), and Teplice (Czech Republic). He was also awarded the golden keys to the gates of the city of Cairo and Alexandria (Egypt).

See also[link]

• Cosmonautics Day – holiday celebrated in Russia and other former USSR countries on 12 April
• Yuri's Night – international celebration held every 12 April
• Kosmonaut Yuri Gagarin – Soviet space research ship

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Siddiqi, Asif A (2000). Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974. Washington, D.C.: NASA. OCLC 48909645. SP-2000-4408.  Part 1 (page 1-500), Part 2 (page 501-1011).
• Gavrilin, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich (1973). Sportsmen of the Soviet Army. Moscow: Novosti Press Agency. OCLC 23374154. 

Further reading[link]

• Andrew L. Jenks (2012). The Cosmonaut Who couldn't Stop Smiling: The Life and Legend of Yuri Gagarin. Northern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-87580-447-7. 
• Cole, Michael D (1995). Vostok 1: First Human in Space. Springfield: Enslow. ISBN 0-89490-541-4. 
• Doran, Jamie; Bizony, Piers (1998). Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-4267-8. 

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Yuri Gagarin

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yuri Gagarin

External images
Memorial to Gagarin and Seregin at crash location
	Memorial obelisk photo
	Memorial obelisk closeup photo
	Coordinates 56°02′48″N 39°01′35″E / 56.04664°N 39.0265°E / 56.04664; 39.0265

• Gagarin's Start - short video by Roscosmos including the preparation, Gagarin's flight, and Gagrin back on Earth
• Episode 47 of astrotalkuk.org Recording from the unveiling of Yuri Gagarin Statue event in London on 14 July 2011
• Rare B&W video with some audio, of Yuri Gagarin in Manchester 12 July 1961
• Feature Film First Orbit from firstorbit.org
• Yuri Gagarin - The First to Fly
• Gagarin's photos
• Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space - slideshow by Life magazine
• Obituary, NY Times, 28 March 1968 Yuri Gagarin Killed As Test Plane Falls
• (Russian) Юрий Гагарин. Дорога в космос — his book in Russian (HTML)
• (Russian) Photo, Audio and Video with Yuri Gagarin, online version of CD created to his 70th anniv. on the homepage of Russian state archive for scientific-technical documentation (RGANTD).
• (Russian) Article in online Encyclopedia of cosmonautics A lot of information about the first human's flight to space.
• (Russian) Gagarin's flight 3D visualization — contains the real record of his conversation with the Earth during the spaceflight
• (Russian) Annotated transcript of Gagarin's radio conversations with ground stations, starting 2hrs (4:10 UTC) before launch
• Gagarin — detailed biography at Encyclopedia Astronautica
• List (with photos) of Gagarin statues
• (Finnish) (Russian) 11 minutes long interview of Yuri Gagarin by The Finnish Broadcasting Company in 1961
• Yuri's Night - World Space Party
• 50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space
• Yuri Gagarin's Klushino: Forgotten home of space legend
• Yuri Gagarin at Find a Grave
• Yuri Gagarin footage from 1961
• Yuri Gagarin
• The short film "Soviet Man in Space (1961)" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
• The short film "First Pictures. Soviets Hail Space hero , 1961/04/19 (1961)" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]

lez:Гагарин, Юрий Алексеевичvep:Gagarin Jurii