Celebrating 40 years of Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin - 1934-68

Yuri Gagarin literally rocketed to fame when he became the first man in space in 1961. Strapped into a tiny spherical space capsule, Gagarin made a complete orbit of the earth, before landing safely less than two hours after blastoff. By demonstrating that humans could survive weightlessness and the crushing acceleration of a rocket ascent, his flight paved the way for all future manned spaceflights.

Born on a collective farm, Gagarin trained as an industrial worker before taking a course in flying and enrolling as an airforce cadet. He was 27 and at the peak of physical fitness when he went into orbit - his main task was to survive a space flight that was controlled automatically throughout.

Gagarin's daring exploit earned him instant worldwide fame and a shower of national honors. However, he never went into space again but undertook several world tours to promote the Soviet space program. Due to his unique experience, he was also assigned to train aspiring cosmonauts. He died in a jet accident during a training session.

Soviet Union puts first man in space

April 12 1961. The Soviet Union won the race to place a man in space by sending 27-year-old air force Major Yuri Gagarin into orbit and bringing him safely back to earth.

A brief announcement by the official press agency, Tass, said Gagarin had orbited the earth in a 10,395-pound sputnik named Vostok, or East. It said the spacecraft’s orbit had a maximum altitude of 187.75 miles and a minimum of 109.50 miles, and that each revolution around the earth took 89.10 minutes.

The first official word of the flight came when a Moscow radio announcer broke into a program just before 10 a.m. local time and said emotionally, "Russia has successfully launched a man into space." The announcement was repeated three times, after which the station played patriotic music.

Gagarin applied a braking device and landed less than an hour later in what was described as the "prescribed area" of the Soviet Union. Tass said that after the landing, Gagarin requested that a message be relayed to the party and the government, and personally to Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, "that the landing was normal. I feel well, have no injuries or bruises." The only statement attributed to him during his historic flight was: "Flight is proceeding normally. I am well."

Gagarin was described by Tass as an industrial technician who is married. Other sources said he probably has been trained as a test pilot. He was reported to have received preflight training similar to that of the seven astronauts who will fly the United States’ first manned missions, scheduled for later this year.

Tass said the Vostok was sent into orbit by a multistage rocket from the Soviet launch site at Tyura Tam and that constant radio contact was maintained with Gagarin during the mission. It said his condition was monitored continually by radio telemetering devices and television.

Rumors of an impending manned space flight had been circulating in Moscow for the past 24 hours. Several sources said the Soviet Union had sent a man into space and brought him back successfully last week, a report that led to speculation that something had gone wrong with an earlier mission.

Russia's Space Flight Anniversary

President Vladimir Putin marked the anniversary of a pioneering space flight by pledging to support Russia's space industry, which has fallen on hard times in the 40 years since cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin elated Russians and shocked the West by orbiting the Earth.

Gagarin's 108-minute single orbit of the Earth on April 12, 1961 - weeks before the United States was able to put Alan Shepard on a 15-minute sub-orbital flight - raised fears the Soviet Union had taken an unbeatable lead in the space race.

But Russia's post-Soviet economic troubles have drained money for the space program, and it suffered a severe blow to morale last month when the deteriorating space station Mir was scrapped in a fiery plunge into the Pacific Ocean.

"Despite all difficulties ... the tremendous potential of highly skilled experts engaged in this field and the implementation of national and international programs will enable this country to stay on the cutting edge of space exploration in the new century," Putin said in a statement.

Despite the pledge, space engineers held a rally outside the government headquarters in Moscow, where a Cabinet meeting was taking place, to protest cuts in funding for space research.

In a visit to Star City, the cosmonaut training facility north of Moscow, Putin said support for the space program was vital because it is "the locomotive that will pull forward all other industry spheres," the Interfax news agency reported.

Putin lay flowers at the Gagarin monument in Star City and met with Gagarin's widow, Valentina, and the couple's daughters Yelena and Galina. Gagarin died in the 1968 crash of a fighter jet he was piloting on a test flight.

Top space officials laid a wreath and red carnations at Gagarin's grave in the wall of the Kremlin. Similar ceremonies took place across Russia, where many towns have their own Gagarin monuments.

Russia is also marking the Gagarin anniversary by holding an international conference on banning space-based weapons and encouraging cooperation in space.

Putin emphasized that theme in his remarks at Star City. "They say today that (Gagarin's flight) was our national triumph, but all in all it was an important step forward for all of humanity," he said.

Below are some cover celebrating Yuri Gagarin.

( To view covers click thumbnail to see the full-size cover, then use your Web Browser's Back Button to return to this page.)

 

You can cut and paste or print this cachet design for the 40th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, which you might care to use to mail a cover to yourself or a friend.
The design is by the Editor's wife Eve Archer.

 

A.G. Bradbury has produce this Gagarin cover in a limited edition of 250 with a special Yuri Gagarin postmark at Leicester - home of the National Space Centre - a major millennium attraction.

Largely due to the efforts of our own Bob Taylor, this mainly blue cover bearing a 2000 Millennium astronomy stamp as illustrated above (reduced in size) is to be produced on 12.04.01 at a cost of £12.50.

Write to: A.G. Bradbury, 3 Link Road, Stoneygate, Leicester LE2 3RA with your cheque or tel: 0116 2705367. Please mention that you saw this through the ASSS.

 

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