Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin was born on 9th March 1934 in Russia. He was the third of four children. He had two brothers and a sister. His parents worked on a farm.

Learning to Fly
When he was 16 years old, Yuri joined a flying club called the AeroClub.
In 1955, he left college and went to a training school to learn to fly.
Yuri finished his training and became a fighter pilot in 1957.

The Journey to Space Begins
In 1960, Yuri and 19 other pilots were chosen to take tests to see if they could be one of the first humans to be launched into space.
Yuri and another pilot called Gherman Titov
were successful and began their training.

In Space
His first journey into space – the Vostok 1 spaceflight – took around 108 minutes from takeoff to landing.
Yuri wasn't allowed to operate any of the controls as no one had been in space before so they didn't know what effects it might have on him.

Coming Back to Earth
Yuri orbited the Earth at a speed of up to 27,400km an hour.
During landing, Yuri used a special parachute to land safely near the Volga river after ejecting from the landing pod.

Back Down To Earth
Yuri became a worldwide celebrity and was considered a hero by many. He earned many awards and honours.
Yuri toured the world, visiting many countries.
“Yuri Gagarin with awards” by [Министерство обороны СССР] is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Yuri Gagarin
Yuri died on 27th March 1968, when a plane he was flying in with a flight instructor crashed.

Yuri Gagarin
There are statues of Yuri Gagarin in different places around the world, including in both Moscow and London.
“Yuri Gagarin reaches for the sky” by [Fresh On The Net] is licensed under CC BY 2.0