Yuri gagarin biography in english
•
Yuri Gagarin
148200 views391 likes
ESA / About Us / ESA history / 50 years of humans in space
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was born on 9 March 1934 in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia).
His parents, Alexei Ivanovich Gagarin and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina, worked on a collective farm. Yuri was the third of four children, and his elder sister helped raise him while his parents worked.
After starting an apprenticeship in a metalworks as a foundryman, Gagarin was selected for further training at a technical high school in Saratov. While there, he joined the 'AeroClub', and learned to fly light aircraft, a hobby that would take up an increasing part of his time. In 1955, after completing his technical schooling, he entered flygning training at the Orenburg Military Pilot's School.
While there he met Valentina Goryacheva, whom he married in 1957, after gaining his pilot's wings in a MiG-15. After graduation, he was assigned to Luostar
•
Yuri Gagarin: Facts about the first human in space
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human in space. In 1961, he orbited Earth aboard the Vostok 1 space capsule, the first-ever crewed spacecraft. As a result, he became an international celebrity and received many awards for this achievement, both within and outside the Soviet Union.
Vostok 1 was Gagarin's only spaceflight. He was on the backup crew for the Soyuz 1 mission but wasn’t allowed to go to space after that mission ended in a fatal crash because officials worried that Gagarin, a national hero, would be killed. Though he was eventually allowed to continue flying regular aircraft, he died fem weeks after being cleared to fly again, when his flight-training airplane crashed. The exact cause of the crash is still unknown.
Related: Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1: How the 1st human spaceflight worked (infographic)
Yuri Gagarin FAQs
Who was the first man in space?
Yuri Gag
•
Biography of Yuri Gagarin, First Man in Space
Yuri Gagarin (March 9, 1934–March 27, 1968) made history on April 12, 1961, when he became both the first person in the world to enter space and the first person to orbit the Earth. Although he never again went to space, his achievement was one of the most significant events of the "space race" which eventually saw men land on the moon.
Fast Facts: Yuri Gagarin
- Known For: First human being in space and first in Earth orbit
- Born: March 9, 1934 in Klushino, USSR
- Parents: Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin, Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina
- Died: March 27, 1968 in Kirsach, USSR
- Education: Orenburg Aviation School, where he learned to fly Soviet MiGs
- Awards and Honors: Order of Lenin, Hero of the Soviet Union, Pilot Cosmonaut of the Soviet Union; monuments were raised and streets named for him across the Soviet Union
- Spouse: Valentina Gagarina
- Children: Yelena (born 1959), Galina (born 1961)
- Notable Quote: "To be the first