Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin

In 1961, at the age of 27, Gagarin left the Earth. It was April 12th, 9.07 Moscow time (launch-site, Baikonur). 108 minutes later, he was back. The period of orbital revolution was 89:34 minutes (this figure was "calculated by electronic computers"). The missions maximum flight altitude was 327 000 meters. The maximum speed reached was 28 260 kilometers per hour.

The vessel used was the Soviet spaceship/satellite Vostok 1, which was a small one-manned spherical descent module with a diameter of 2.3 meters. The module was mounted on top of an instrument module containing the engine system. Together these weighed less than five tonnes. The cosmonaut was strapped into an ejection seat, from which he would exit the descent module upon re-entry.

During the flight of Vostok 1, Gagarin was not given control of his craft. This was because of the above mentioned insecurity regarding reactions of the mind and physics in weightlessness. The Russians didn't want to risk the cosmonaut losing control over himself while in space, and thus endangering the mission.

There was a key available in a sealed envelope which enabled the cosmonaut to take control over the vessel in case of an emergency. The Vostok also contained a supply of food and water for ten days in case of retrorocket failure. Due to the orbit chosen, the ship was expected to return naturally during this period. However, Gagarin did not encounter any problems. "The spaceship put in orbit, and the carrier-rocket separated, weightlessness set in. At first the sensation was to some extent unusual, but I soon adapted myself" "I maintained continuous communication with Earth on different channels by telephone and telegraph".

Upon return, the Vostok capsule itself landed too heavily, with an impact making it impossible for humans to remain inside during landing. Gagarin ejected at an altitude of approximately 7 kilometers, and landed safely.

An old woman, her grand-daughter and a cow were the first beings to see him return to the planet.

In the official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the parachute ejection system included for Gagarin. However trivial a lie, this was due to the international rules for aviation records, which stated that "The pilot remains in his craft from launch to landing". This rule, if applied, would have "disqualified" Gagarins space-flight.

Yuri Gagarins flight into space was headline news all over the world, and he was awarded the medal and official title Hero of the Soviet union.

He died seven years later, on march 7, 1968 (sometimes stated as the 27th).He died in an airplane accident, flying the MIG-15 as a test-pilot. By then he was 34 years old.

Further information about Yuri Gagarin and his space travel can be found on the following link: http://www.kosmonaut.se/gagarin/