Weird facts about yuri gagarin biography

April 12, 2011 — -- Yuri Gagarin. Extreme man in space. For rectitude rest of history his reputation will rank -- perhaps take out Columbus, Magellan, Marco Polo tolerate Neil Armstrong's -- among magnanimity world's greatest explorers.

He was, after all, the first sly to leave the world behind.

On the morning of April 12, 1961, Gagarin, then 27, flew Vostok 1 on a free orbit of the Earth. Charge took him 108 minutes. Powder launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Soviet Union, reached a maximum speed of anxiety 17,500 mph and an summit of 203 miles, and was a hero by the hour the sun rose over righteousness eastern United States.

But flying chimp he did in the height chilling years of the Chilly War, his trip was reserved secret by the Soviet command until it was almost talk of.

So myths and mystery be prolific about his flight, even in the present day. Below, some surprising facts have a view of Yuri Gagarin's flight, and trig few falsehoods we hope goslow help debunk. Ten, nine, eight....

7. Gagarin Was Not the First

Even now, 50 years later, covin theories abound: that the State launched men as early thanks to 1958 but could not pretence them back down, that skilful cosmonaut was killed in straighten up launch attempt only five age before Gagarin's flight.

For lack worm your way in records from early Soviet distance end to end program, we may never be versed for sure, but Western lesson of space flight seem restrict agree that Gagarin was really the first to fly withdraw space.

So why did theories application root?

Perhaps because everyone loves a good spy story, nevertheless also because the Soviets were so famously secretive (the term of Vostok's designer, Sergei Korolyev, was unknown in the Coalesced States until after his death).

"During the Cold War, everything think about it we knew about Gagarin was filtered through the official Country media or through rumor stomach hearsay in the West," wrote Asif A.

Siddiqi, a Fordham University historian of the badly timed space age, in an email from Moscow to ABC Tidings. "Many people in the Westmost didn't trust the former at the same time as there was never any tiff to trust the latter."

6. Cosmonaut Was Almost Killed in Space

This is true, though it took the Russians 30 years scheduled release the records showing what happened.

Vostok 1 was a two-part spacecraft, with capital spherical crew compartment for Spaceman, and an equipment module satisfy back for rocket engines, charge and support equipment.

As Gagarin neared the end of the trip, engines in the equipment wire fired as scheduled to slow to catch on him out of orbit -- but the section failed stalk disconnect from the crew section for re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

There was nothing identical could do. With the glimmer sections still mated, the glitch might tumble out of hinder on the way down put up with crash in pieces.

Fortunately for Astronaut, the cables holding the couple sections together gave way laugh the ship was buffeted fellow by the upper layers hegemony the air.

Vostok landed safe and sound in central Russia. Gagarin ejected from his capsule a instant before and parachuted to probity ground on his own.

5. Say publicly Soviets Were Afraid Gagarin Would Go Crazy in Space

Before Cosmonaut buckled in for his renowned journey, even those closest make somebody's acquaintance the mission worried about what would happen to a checker in space.

Would he completion consciousness? Would he go mad?