Facts about Yuri Gagarin
- 09
Gagarin's height of 5 feet 2 inches was deliberately advantageous because Soviet engineers designed Vostok 1's cramped cockpit to accommodate only smaller cosmonauts.
- 08
Gagarin's mother never witnessed her son's historic spaceflight because Soviet authorities kept his mission secret until after his successful return to Earth on April 12, 1961.
- 07
The Soviet Union awarded Gagarin the title of Hero of the Soviet Union immediately after his spaceflight, making him the first person to receive this honor for space exploration achievements.
- 06
Gagarin's ejection seat fired automatically at 7 kilometers altitude because Soviet engineers designed Vostok 1 as an unmanned capsule incapable of controlled landing with a cosmonaut inside.
- 05
Gagarin's final words before launch were "Poyekhali" (Let's go), a phrase that became iconic in Soviet culture and remains celebrated in Russia today.
- 04
Gagarin's training at Star City lasted 20 months and included 192 parabolic flights to simulate weightlessness before his 1961 mission.
- 03
At age 27, Gagarin died in a 1968 MiG-15 fighter jet crash near Moscow, just seven years after his historic orbital flight.
- 02
Gagarin's spacecraft ejected him at 7,000 meters altitude, and he parachuted separately to Earth rather than landing inside the capsule as originally planned.
- 01
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed the first human spaceflight, orbiting Earth in 108 minutes aboard Vostok 1.