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Archive 1

Archive 2

Cleared the article of unsubstituted garbage, like "rumours that Gagarin was drunk" . This subtle anti-Soviet propaganda is boring. We do realize that some people just have to disparage others, to make them feel better about themselve, yet once in a while you guys should give us a break. Cheers.

I suggest that this page be protected for today.

I would second that. This page seems more screwed up every time i look at it. Livecontra 15:24, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm with you there. anyone notice his rank changed to pokemon and "space flight" to "space fight?" WhiteFox ( talk) 17:02, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Every year on April 12, people around the world celebrate the first man in space. In Russia this date is "Space Day", In other countries it's "the first man in space and the first space shuttle flight". http://oregonspacegrant.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/celebrate-yuris-night-april-12-2008/ Maybe in USA this day isn't celebrate day, cause this day was USA's antitriumph, but other countries celebrate this day till now. Should we say it in an article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.151.242.61 ( talk) 04:39, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Major Heinz Schroeder from the German Luftwaffe was the first man in space, on April 13, 1962. Exactly the same date as Gargarin - and that was no coincidence. The Soviet government launched Gargarin on that special date because of that. Major Schroeder flew a reconnaisance mission over London in an altered version of the V-2 rocket. That was part of a preparation against the Allied invasion. But the V-2 crashed, Major Heinz Schroeder died, and that was the end of the Reich's manned space program - until Wernher von Braun started again after the war and built the "American" (in fact German) NASA space vehicles years later. My grandfather told me all that. -Janina, Berlin, Germany -

What is this nonsense? Allied invasion in 1962? Gagarin flew on April 12, 1961, BTW. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.182.56.5 ( talk) 23:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

10/28/2006 - I'm no expert, but I thought Joe Kittinger was the "first man in space". Not to distract from Yuri's accomplishments, but if Joe was the first, then shouldn't this wiki be changed? I'll leave it to you experts to decide. Just wondered if Joe wasn't the first.

Huh? Kittinger never went to space. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.182.56.5 ( talk) 23:35, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

Not trying to zombify an ancient discussion, but read the article on Kittinger and see what is said there. He was the first American to reach an altitude of 100k feet... technically on the boundary of what is considered to be "space" and nominally sufficient to earn astronaut wings even under current USAF rules. Still, I think Yuri's claim to fame is pretty secure as the first to orbit the Earth, and even the first into space is rather defensible from a number of criteria. -- Robert Horning ( talk) 09:50, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

100 thousand feet is only 18-19 miles high. The lowest definition of "space," given by the air force is 50 miles. International regulations, far more commonly used, place the edge of space at 62 miles. Therefore Kittenger's achievements, while admirable and groundbreaking, cannot be considered relevant in any "first in space" discussion. GalacticTurtle ( talk) 21:46, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I have no data collaborating the belief, but I would think Gagarin would be the first person to return from space alive; and not necessarily the first person actually in space (using whatever definition). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 82.69.136.105 ( talk) 21:07, 18 January 2007 (UTC).

No Gagarin was the first person in space, and also the first to return. None were sent before him. GalacticTurtle ( talk) 21:46, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Hello everyone,

Some years ago, I learned in a TV report on SRC (Canada's french public television) that it was recently unveiled that Yuri Gagarin was the the first man into space. Sergei Vladimir Ilyushin Jr. made it 5 days before Gagarin, but was badly injured on landing, so the Soviets decided to hide the failure. Here is an internet reference I found about it: [1]. Here is another one [2]. Can someone confirm this? I think we need to correct this important mistake that history have made! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.41.150.95 ( talk • contribs) 20:57, 15 July 2005 UTC

I did a search and found 407 hits for Sergei Vladimir Ilyushin Jr, a few of them support that he was the first man into space, others speculate about whether it happened or not. *shrug* I agree that we should probably have some mention of this, but I don't know that it can be stated as fact, yet. By the same token, perhaps Gagarin's reference should say that he is "commenly believed to be and referenced as" the first man in space or something. Thoughts? -- Naha| ^(talk) 21:08, July 15, 2005 (UTC)

There are more likely (based on some evidences, not just on rumours spread by abroad reporters) conspiracy theories claiming "Americans did not land on the Moon in 1969", no mention of these, however, in Neil Armstrong article. And you suggest to include similar rumours into intro section of this article? No words. Cmapm 12:18, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

If a "conspiracy theory or rumor" is widespread enough, it deserves at least a small mention somewhere, clearly stating that it is, in fact, a rumor. I don't see anything wrong with that. There are sections like this in plenty of other articles. Purplosely not covering (or leaving out)certain aspects/angles of an article is what I have "no words" for. Naha| ^(talk) 13:59, July 16, 2005 (UTC)

Furthermore, I did not mean to imply that this information should be in the "intro section" of the article. That was worded badly, excuse me. Naha| ^(talk) 14:02, July 16, 2005 (UTC)

Do we mention Time Cube on the main physics page? Not every crackpot theory deserves a prominent mention. -- Robert Merkel 15:03, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

I never said every theory deserves a "prominent mention." For the record I never said I was going to include this in the article at all, I said "probably some mention of this." Some mention =/ prominent mention. I also said "if its widespread enough," meaning that no, of course not EVERY theory deserves mention anywhere. When I asked for "thoughts" on this I wasn't looking for criticism or belittlement, just sincere commentary. Your "gimmie a break" as your edit summary notice is irresponsible in this way. I really don't understand why so many people can't comment without being scarcastic or rude, because that is NOT the Wikipedia way, nor does it make people want to "deal with" you in the future. Also, I'm not even the one who brought this topic up in the first place, so it would be nice if some of the commentary was directed at that person. When the use of "multiple colons" makes it look like the response is directed at me, I will comment as such. Naha| ^(talk) 15:31, July 16, 2005 (UTC)

For unknown reasons this article is target of many unsupported therories and. Such theories should not be mentioned unless very significant reason exists and in this case it doesn't look so. Pavel Vozenilek 21:20, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

Robert Heinlein mentioned something that would support this theory in 'Expanded Universe', his collection of short stories and articles. He apparently was in Russia at exactly that time, and heard some soldiers talking about a man in space several days before Gagarin went up. Maybe the proponents should look that up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.157.27.16 ( talk • contribs) 14:00, 3 August 2005 UTC

I looked it up in relation to Space disaster and edited that article and this article accordingly. The reference is on page 415 of Expanded Universe (Heinlein). Hu 21:30, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

In reply to the first comment, Joe Kittinger did not go into space. The highest he flew was 31km, the Karman line (edge of space) is 100km. Nowhere near. --GW_Simulations _{User Page | Talk} 20:27, 28 October 2006 (UTC)

If some foreign reporter have heard that there was a manned ship, launched a few days before Yuri Gagarins start, than probably there was a mistake - because a humans body model was launched for test purposes & it has it's name Ivan Ivanovich ;-). There are alot of such or similar misunderstandings in foreign views on Russian history or life. If Ilyushin Jr. have started five years before Gagarin, than it's strange why Soviets were waiting for five years before repeating so important attempt.-- Oleg Str 12:05, 27 February 2007 (UTC)

For those not old enough to remember, let me point out that the Soviets did not announce Gagarin's trip until after he'd landed safely. This was quite suspicious to me, and caused me to guess that they wouldn't have announced it at all if he'd been killed. Sometime later, the Soviets did announce a space mission while the cosmonaut was in orbit. Something went wrong, and he hit the ground at several miles per second. He's the only Soviet cosmonaut they admitted to losing it space at that time. The combination of those two incidents, together with the long-standing policy of never reporting disasters within the USSR on their news, removes the theory that Gagarin was not the first man in space from the category of "nut conspiracy theory" to "plausable scenario." Vegasprof 10:27, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

There is a direct source, too. Some years ago, I read a book written by a former Soviet official who was high enough to know these things, and he stated that there were others before Gagarin who went up but didn't come down alive. He didn't name them. I think this reference can be considered reliable, but I need to find it first. BTW, if there is a Wikipedia page on this subject, I didn't find it. My goal here is not to detract from Gagarin's accomplishment, but only to set the historical record straight. Vegasprof 10:27, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Soviet space program conspiracy accusations -- Daggerstab 13:46, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Hello, look how many comments you made! I congratulate you, you can get a note in Ginnes Records book about quantity of unproved rumors and supposes, full of jealos to glory of Soviet Union. Still can`t lose nobleful? GET REAL PROOFS OR GET OFF THIS DISCUSSION!!! -Timofey Konev, Russia- 92.126.54.232 ( talk) 07:07, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Split

I split this section into a new article, because this section has almost nothing related to Yuri Gagarin.

Also, can we remove the NPOV label from here? Crocodealer 17:37, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I think that splitting the article was a good solution. Aldo L 22:21, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Where is this split article? Vegasprof 10:27, 21 April 2007 (UTC)

Short summary

The conspiracy thing is OK to mention in the article, but not in the brief summary. I edited the lead accordingly. Azazell0 11:10, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

The Judica-Cordiglia brothers claimed to have intercepted some radio communications between Soviet MCC and astronauts which were sent to space even before Gagarin but didn't manage to come back. [3] Baltic 12:11, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes - and IIRC, the Judica-Cordiglia data suggests the first human in space was a woman whose capsule interior caught fire in orbit. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.93.68.122 ( talk) 02:24, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Gagarin's biography, Starman, cites his birthplace as "the village of Klushino in the Smolensk region, 160 kilometres to the west of Moscow". Encarta also claims the same. Therefore, I'm going to make the change. -- Robert Merkel 00:32, 28 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Surprisingly, there are no awards mentioned on this page, although they are on Russian Wiki version. I could create a new subtopic on this, but so far I have a problem of translating medal and orders names into English. Cmapm 14:16, 28 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Call sign

I've linked this through to Siberian Pine (Pinus sibirica) as this is the species to which the Russian word Кедр refers, not a cedar (Cedrus, which does not occur in Russia) (see also List of false friends). - MPF 18:46, 28 November 2004 (UTC)

Didn't he get married to another cosmonaut? At least that's one of the stories, I've heard. If he was married, it doesn't mention him here.

I think your think of Andrian Nikolayev and Valentina Tereshkova. Evil Monkey → Talk 01:52, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)

I thought he married in November 1957 to Valentina Ivanovna Goryacheva, and they had two daughters, Lenochka (b. Oct 4, 1959), and Galochka (b. July 3, 1961)? -- Tony Hecht 22:40, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

Yep. And his older daughter, Elena Gagarina, is now a director of Museums of Kremlin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.35.20.223 ( talk) 11:28, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Does anybody have a source for the drunkenness claim? It wasn't mentioned in Starman IIRC, and it strikes me as a little implausible given that you can't just hop in a fighter plane and go, and there was a also an instructor in with him (would you willingly get in a fighter plane with a drunk pilot unless you were drunk yourself)? -- Robert Merkel 06:10, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

OK, commented on the drunkenness stuff, and a new theory, oxygen deprivation. Also, I recall his biography saying the crash was in a MiG-15, and it couldn't have a been a MiG-17 as according to the Wikipedia there was no training version of that aircraft. -- Robert Merkel 07:08, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

This was added by anonymous user w/o history. I asked him about sources and obvioysly nothing come out. I think it should be reverted as unfounded. Pavel Vozenilek 23:20, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I did shorten it - I hope it looks OK. I can add one other crank theory - that Gagarin started to be critical to the Soviet system and could become dangerous known symbol and was therefore let to die. Such rumour nicely filled space in some tabloid. Pavel Vozenilek 23:25, 21 April 2005 (UTC)

It's unlikely that Gagarin was drunk. I've known a Soviet fighter pilot (Alex Zuyev) who said that in the USSR a flight surgeon usually examined all aircrew before takeoff to ensure they were sober. IIRC, MiG-25 defector Victor Bellenko stated the same thing in his book. Alcoholism was rampant in the Soviet Union and reportedly remains so in Russia. B Tillman July 06. Never got married

what? no mention to his famous phrase while on orbit?

There is a link to the full verbatim record of his conversations with the Earth during the flight in the article. I didn't find there the phrase mentioned by you. The nearest by the meaning phrase was "Небо черное, и по краю Земли, по краю горизонта такой красивый голубой ореол, который темнее по удалению от Земли." (roughly translated into English as:"The sky is black and along the Earth's edge, along the edge of the horizon is a nice blue halo, which becomes darker at the distance from the Earth."). I assume, however, that he could say something more similar after the flight or the phrase mentioned by you was attributed to him by the media inside or outside of the Soviet Union.

As I know, the most famous his phrase (at least in Russia it is known almost to everyone) is his word "Поехали", which was said by him at the moment of start. However, this word is absent here, although it exists in the full verbatim record. Cmapm 13:39, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

By all means add this, if it really is so ubiquitous. It sounds like the Russian equivalent of Neil Armstrong and his "One small step..." quote. -- Robert Merkel 12:32, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

"Поехали": can this word be translated to English for us non-Russian speakers? I am dying to know what it is...

"Поехали" - it is like "Let's drive!" or "Let's go!"

Or "Let's ride!" -- unplugged 17:11, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

I think it's somewhat more subtle. In the context of the conversation (among other technical detail) this could just mean "Moving!". At least (unlike Armstrong's one) this was not intended to become a historical phrase. But taken out of context the phrase is associated with a command given to a cabman (esp. in older times): "Come on!", "Go!", and as such it produces further associations with (mostly fictional) pictures of 'old Russian' life: restaurants, dancing gypsies, drunken escapades, etc. This makes up much of Gagarin's popular image (more or less realistic, considering some facts in the article) as a romantic, somewhat reckless, hussar style hero, very 'Russian' in that way. This image was supported, if not promoted, by official propaganda. In early 70s there was a well known song by A.Pakhmutova and N.Dobronravov performed on the radio by Y.Gulyayev and later by I.Kobzon, 'Знаете, каким он парнем был' ('You know what kind of guy he was'), using the phrase as an identifiable detail. Mostly heroic in its leitmotif it contains an explicit reference to an older folk song 'Вдоль по Питерской' ('Down the Piterskaya street') performed by F.Shalyapin, a canonical illustration to that part of national spirit. The phrase is still used as a somewhat humorous toast, and I think its origin is obvious to any Russian.-- Goldminer 16:58, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Hm... Never thought in this way. To me it sounds a bit humorous because it would be more convenient for him to the given circumstance to say "полетели" (let's fly) rather than "поехали" (let's go [by car or some other surface transport]) -- Nekto ( talk) 18:48, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

Well, I'm not a pilot and cannot judge myself, but for example seamen never say they swim in Russian -- "уплыть в море" -- instead they always go -- "уйти в море", even though everybody else uses the word "to swim". So, you are on shaky grounds claiming what "would be more convenient" for Yuri. Besides, "поехали" can have either of the meanings depending on the context: "Hey, we've started moving!" or "Let's go!", and it feels to me the former one is what he meant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.11.232.250 ( talk) 14:33, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

"Поехали" - we've started, we've departed, we're moving, we're going. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.142.72.88 ( talk) 02:13, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

The phrase "The Earth is blue. How wonderful. It is amazing." as quoted in the article should be a combination of two phrases said by Gagarin:
1. (upon entering the state of weightlessness): "The sense of weightlessness is interesting. Everything floats. (Joyfully.) Floating is everything! Wonderful. Interesting." (Russian: "Чувство невесомости интересно. Все плавает. (Радостно.) Плавает все! Красота. Интересно.")
(at least several minutes later)
2. "The sky is black and along the Earth's edge, along the edge of the horizon is a nice blue halo, which becomes darker at the distance from the Earth." (Russian: "Небо черное, и по краю Земли, по краю горизонта такой красивый голубой ореол, который темнее по удалению от Земли.")
The transcript seems to be full since the word "Поехали" is present there. Therefore I would remove this phrase "The Earth is blue. How wonderful. It is amazing." from the article since the words "wonderful" and "amazing" relate to something completely different, and the blue thing is not the Earth but the halo. — Ace111 ( talk) 19:32, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Considering this quote is dutifully sourced to the original BBC article, I see no reason for its removal. I have added an ellipse to the quote to show that the two sections may have come from different places, rather than spoken as a single phrase. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 20:48, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Recent anonymous user added a paragraph related to explosives being onboard the craft. Wondering if anyone could provide a source for this claim. g026r 04:31, 27 July 2005 (UTC)

Like a lot of stories, there seems to be a teency bit of truth here mixed with a pile of myth. According to Starman, there was indeed a keypad installed with a secret code in Vostok, and Gagarin's immediate superiors changed their minds at the last minute to give him the code directly. The code, however, was *not* to deactive an explosives system; it was to give Gagarin manual control over the spacecraft. It's interesting to compare this with the US space program, where engineers initially intended for Mercury to be entirely computer-controlled, but because the astronauts had a public profile they were able to throw administrative weight around to ensure that they had the ability to pilot the craft. In any case, neither space program put a self-destruct mechanism in their spacecraft. -- Robert Merkel 07:37, 30 July 2005 (UTC)

The keypad (in fact there were no buttons, but you should dial numbers) was installed because as it was thought it was possible for a unusual conditions of a space to make man to go insane, thus risking his life. The code was stored in a sealed paper pack. In case if a manual control will be needed then a cosmonaut should unpack the code dial it on a pad and manual control should be unblocked. In fact Sergey Korolev told the code to Yury Gagarin before the start. It is also important to say, that there was an explosive onboard - many space devices are working by blowing some amount of explosive, such as ejection seat charge.-- Oleg Str 12:39, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Not sure if "insane" is the best word; perhaps "disoriented", "confused" or "delirious" would be more neutral... -- Sabik ( talk) 20:54, 17 July 2008 (UTC)

It was a set of explosive bolts designed to open the hatch so he could parachute the remaining 3 kilometers to earth. As it happened, he parachuted 7 kilometers. In the event the ground controllers lost the ability to open the hatch explosively from the ground, suing the keycodes, Gagarin would eb able to do so from inside the capsule. He would not have been able to survive the impact of landing under any circumstance. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.9.199.162 ( talk) 13:55, 5 October 2007 (UTC)

The article says

"While in orbit Gagarin was promoted "in the field" from the lowly rank of Second Lieutenant to Major"

My understanding was, he was promoted after his return, not during the flight. Also, the Red AF rank was, I've heard, Sr Lt (whatever that is in Rus...) Trekphiler 06:12, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, he went into space being Sr Lt, but Khruschev said that this rank is too low for a space pilot, and promoted him to the rank of Major during his flight. Before his death he had the rank of Colonel. -- unplugged 17:19, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

Gagarin wasn't promoted in orbit. He really was promoted on his return to Moskow April 14th. Khrushev decided on promotion last moment on Gagarin return. He called defence minister Malinovsky and said "... Is he [Gagarin] still St.Lt? We should urgently raise the rank!" Malinovsky answered unwillingly, that he ready to raise the rank to Captain. "Captain? " Khrushev turned angry. "At least he should be Major" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.66.69.228 ( talk) 19:47, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

If you can find a source for that, then by all means add it to the article. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 22:31, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

The source is the same article in russian wiki —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.151.242.61 ( talk) 12:23, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Coming from the Grissom page, I notice a lot there that isn't here; while perhaps getting it out of the SU was a bit hard, surely now there are available sources to give equal coverage? So let me add an unconfirmed factoid to get someone started: YAG flew aboard a Raketny Syem ( R-7) booster. Trekphiler 12:12, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

His two elder siblings were taken away to Germany in 1943, and did not return until after the war. Were they soldiers? Prisoners? Orphans? Sherurcij ^{( talk) ( Terrorist Wikiproject)} 05:42, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Both prisoners of Nazis. One was semi-hanged the other was a slave. Together they joined the Red Army and marched with them to defeat the Nazis and returned home only after WWII 99.236.221.124 ( talk) 22:40, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Removed for the moment...

Another report said that his plane hit birds or had to swerve hard to avoid something in the air.

In March 2003 it came out that the KGB had found that various stories that had come out were untruths issued as cover-ups, and that the truth was that his death was caused by carelessness of an airforce officer on the ground, for that flight needed good weather and the aircraft not to have external fueltanks, but that the airforce officer gave an out-of-date weather report and the cloud base was near the ground and the aircraft had external fueltanks under its wings. (Ref. Daily Telegraph newspaper.)

For one, the KGB had not existed for over a decade by 2003. For another, citing the "Daily Telegraph" newspaper isn't enough to identify the source of the tale. Could we have a date and article title, please?

I'm sorry to get narky about sourcing, but the Gagarin article gets a disproportionate share of conspiracy theories. -- Robert Merkel 09:27, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I read somewhere that he spelt his name Yuriy as well as Yuri?

If you mean 'spelt in English' this doesn't make much sence since he was unlikely to have any knowledge of it (except maybe very basic). And considering the nature of the Soviet media it wasn't him to decide how to spell anyway. As to the 'correct' spelling, Yuriy is a closer transliteration of his name /EPA: jurij/ than Yuri or Yury so many people with this or similar names use it. Also this is the spelling prescribed by 'International telegraph rules' for Russian language. But it can be easily misread in English, so I suppose Yuri was chosen for simplicity when promoting him as a public figure. -- Goldminer 11:42, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

"At the time the Soviet authorities thought it was more likely he would perish during his descent than survive" I believe this is a remnant of anti-Soviet propaganda. It does not make much sense to send a human into space believing that he will likely perish. If there is evidence a reference must be provided. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.230.63.31 ( talk • contribs)

The statement that there was no publicity during the flight may be wrong. Many sources cite a TASS report less than 60 minutes after launch. Gagarin's flight lasted 108 minutes.

References:

TASS REPORTS OF THE FIRST MANNED FLIGHT TO SPACE:

"The two-way radio communication with comrade Gagarin has been established and is being maintained. The frequency of the short-wave onboard transmitters is 20.006 MHz or 143.625 MHz in the ultrashort wave band." (...) "The orbital flight of the Vostok space vehicle–satellite manned by comrade Gagarin is going on."

Reprinted at: Yu. A. Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre - Official Web. English version: http://www.gctc.ru/eng/gagarin/sved_polet.htm Russian version: http://gctc.ru/gagarin/default.htm Accessed on April 9, 2006.

James Oberg:

"...when Gagarin was eventually launched, TASS released its first bulletin while he was still in flight. This sequence of flight events and TASS announcements has been precisely expounded in Danilov's readable and complete survey of the Russian space program, The Kremlin and the Cosmos."

In "Phantoms of space. Part 1." Space World magazine, January 1975. Also available on-line at: http://www.astronautix.com/articles/phapart1.htm Accessed on April 9, 2006.

Sven Grahn:

Synoptic map of the flight: "6:07[UT] Launch" (...) "7:00[UT] Flight announced by Radio Moscow"

In "An analysis of the flight of Vostok-1" Available at: http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/histind/Vostok1/Vostok1X.htm Accessed on April 9, 2006.

BBC News:

"At just after 0700BST, Major Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was fired from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, Soviet central Asia, in the space craft Vostok (East). (...) The Soviet news agency, Tass, made the first official announcement of Major Gagarin's flight at just before 0800BST."

In "On this day. April 12. 1961: Soviets win space race" Available on-line at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/12/newsid_2477000/2477715.stm Accessed on April 9, 2006.

John F. Graham:

"At 10:02 TASS News Agency made the first announcement about the cosmonaut in orbit. Immediately the world presses began besieging Moscow for more information. At 10:25 the retrorockets fired and Gagarin began his descent to Earth. At 10:55 the Vostok capsule landed 30 km southwest of Engels near the village of Smelovka."

In "SPACE EXPLORATION: FROM TALISMAN OF THE PAST TO GATEWAY FOR THE FUTURE. CHAPTER 12: HUMAN SPACEFLIGHT: THE SOVIETS" Available on-line at: http://www.space.edu/projects/book/index.html Accessed on April 9, 2006.

However, see also:

TIME magazine:

"Triumphant music blared across the land. Russia's radios saluted the morning with the slow, stirring beat of the patriotic song How Spacious Is My Country. Then came the simple announcement that shattered forever man's ancient isolation on earth (...) According to the official announcement, the Vostok had blasted off from an unidentified launching pad at exactly 9:07 a.m., Moscow time. Brief bulletins, from time to time, traced its orbital track. Word came that at 9:22 a.m. Gagarin had reported by radio from a point over South America: "The flight is proceeding normally. I feel well." At 10:15 he checked in over Africa: "The flight is normal. I am withstanding well the state of weightlessness." At 11:10 a report was broadcast that at 10:25 Gagarin had completed one circuit of the earth and that the spaceship's braking rocket had been fired. (...) Not until 12:25 was the proud announcement put on the air: "At 10:55 Cosmonaut Gagarin safely returned to the sacred soil of our motherland." "

In "...excerpts from an article published in TIME magazine on April 21, 1961" Available on-line at: http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/episodes/08/1st.draft/ Accessed on April 9, 2006.

And finally:

Loyd S. Swenson Jr., James M. Grimwood, Charles C. Alexander:

"The first unofficial rumors out of Moscow were confirmed by an Associated Press dispatch on April 12 that translated an official Soviet news agency Tass announcement (...) Aside from this assertion, the news out of Moscow and Turkestan on April 12 was neither crisp nor very detailed. For a few days a great deal of speculation over conflicting reports, fuzzy photographs, and the lack of eyewitnesses encouraged those disappointed Westerners who wished to believe that Gagarin's flight in Vostok I (meaning East) had not occurred. (...) The propagandistic exploitation of this magnificent deed was evident from the fact that no confirmed announcement was made during the 108 minutes of flight - not until Yuri Gagarin landed intact near the Volga River, some 15 miles south of the city of Saratov. The present tense in the Tass dispatch above could easily have been doctored for control purposes, drama, or even for more serious reasons.[Ref.] 83 (...) [Ref.] 83 For an overview of these issues, see chapter on "Gagarin" in Holmes, America on the Moon, 83-92; Thomas A. Reedy, "Britons Say Reds' Timing May Indicate 'Lie in Sky,'" New Port News Daily Press, April 13, 1961."

In "This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury. Chapter 10 - Tests Versus Time in the Race for Space (January - April 1961). Vostok Wins the First Lap" Published as NASA Special Publication-4201 in the NASA History Series, 1989. Available on-line at: http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch10-8.htm#source83 Accessed on April 9, 2006.

-- Aldo L 07:48, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! I removed that sentence. Any more suggestions for NPOV? Cmapm 00:58, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Well this is quite a long time after this discussion but yes, I have a couple of suggestions,

• Paragraph starting with "There were speculations in the media," is not sourced and devotes more space to what Gagarin never said than to anything he did say. Then to add insult to injury, what looks to me a [false] story cooked up in the west about godless communism - is blamed on Krushchov, through further hearsay. Who's media was reporting this? Having lived through this era in US of A I have little doubt myself. I think if this is to be included at all,(and I do not think it should) the genesis of this false rumor should be made clear, and the article certainly should contain more of what Gagarin DID say, and reaction to that, than it devotes to disinformation prevalent at the time.
• people were not "taken away" as "conscripts" to Germany in 1943 from west of Moscow, this is nasty and ugly, if it is meant as a euphamism, just take out the word or find out what really happened? Maybe they died as slave laborers for Werner Von Braun? 68.60.68.203 01:43, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

Iemoved this entire section. Is there anything significant enough amongst it to be worth keeping? -- Robert Merkel 02:14, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

• A Flock of Seagulls have a 'bonus track' upon the 1983 release of Listen that was on the Cassette only (not available on CD until 1987) and not the LP. One of the three bonus tracks was "the last flight of Yuri Gagarin" which was an instrumental.

• One of the first references to Gagarin is in the 1971 Paul Stookey song Ju Les Ver Negre En Cheese. Gagarin is the first "word" and first two letters of the second "word". The entire song is written in English with all the spacing between letters changed [4].

• Italian songwriter Claudio Baglioni in 1977 published a song entitled "Gagarin" (contained in the album "Solo"), completely inspired by the flight of the famous cosmonaut. Official site.

• The rock band Ozma released two songs on their Russian Coldfusion EP and then again on the Double Donkey Disc. They were entitled "The Flight of Yuri Gagarin" and "The Landing of Yuri Gagarin".

• Russian electronica duo PPK's track "ResuRection" features recordings of Gagarin's flight toward the end of the song.

• PJ Harvey has a track on her album Rid of Me called "Yuri-G," where she fantasizes about the moon and being a cosmonaut.

• Gagarin is mentioned by Captain Marko Ramius along with the Sputnik satellite in the film The Hunt for Red October as an example of the former greatness of the Soviet Union.

• Space-rock band Hawkwind has a live concert album titled 'Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin'.

• Electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre released a song called Hey Gagarin on his album Metamorphoses in 2000.

• Manu Chao in his song "Infinita Tristeza" (Infinite Sadness) uses sound collages including a radio voice of Yuri Gagarin.

• Gorki, a band from Belgium, made a song about Yuri, called Joerie and placed him on the cover of the song's album.

• Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Swedish pop/jazz trio, recorded in 1999 album called "From Gagarin's Point of View".

• In the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Snake gives a quote that was credited to Gagarin, "The earth was blue, and there was no God," during a discussion of Russia's first manned space flight.

• Witch Season, the third album from San Francisco band The Court & Spark closes with "Titov Sang the Blues," about Gherman Titov and his runner-up status to Yuri for first flight.

• The Ukrainian rock band Vopli Vidopliassova wrote a song called "Yura" about Gagarin for their album Muzika.

• The Phenomenauts mention Yuri Gagarin in their space race-themed song, "Progress vs. Pettiness" off their 2004 album "Re-entry."

To remove an entire section, seems pretty serious editing with no explanation of why it was removed. I'll guesss you just did not like it? I don't see that as a proper treatment of other's work. Similarly somebody deleted out the "Humanities" section. While I would agree it was not well written it seems outside the spirit of Wiki to take such liberties with other's work. My suggestion on the "References in pop culture" section - if it bothers you to have it in the article, why not start a new Wiki page named "References to Yuri Gagarin in Popular Culture" and link to it? Then if this is significant it would stand on it's own. Mfields1 23:27, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm not positive, but I believe that there's a short clip of Yuri in the opening montage of the American television series Star Trek: Enterprise. Can anyone confirm? 207.194.78.43 18:18, 16 January 2007 (UTC)Kryss LaBryn

Explanation for re-removal

I have again removed the references in popular culture section. The reason for the removal is because the article is about Yuri Gagarin, not about a bunch of stuff that mentions him. It's not as if Yuri Gagarin participated in any of these works. You would never see this type of section in Britannica, World Book, or other encyclopedias. An encyclopedia--including Wikipedia--is a serious research tool, and the "References in popular culture" section doesn't add anything to one's understanding of Yuri Gagarin. -- JHP 04:03, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

The text removed was:

• The Human League released an EP called The Dignity of Labour in 1979 that was loosely based around the construction and launch of Gagarin's spacecraft, and featured Gagarin on the cover. Also included was a flexi disc on which the band's frontman Philip Oakey gave an explanation of the intended meaning of the picture.

• A Flock of Seagulls have a 'bonus track' upon the 1983 release of Listen that was on the Cassette only (not available on CD until 1987) and not the LP. One of the three bonus tracks was "the last flight of Yuri Gagarin" which was an instrumental.

• One of the first references to Gagarin is in the 1971 Paul Stookey song Ju Les Ver Negre En Cheese. Gagarin is the first "word" and first two letters of the second "word". The entire song is written in English with all the spacing between letters changed [5].

• Italian songwriter Claudio Baglioni in 1977 published a song entitled "Gagarin" (contained in the album "Solo"), completely inspired by the flight of the famous cosmonaut. Official site.

• The rock band Ozma released two songs on their Russian Coldfusion EP and then again on the Doubble Donkey Disc. They were entitled "The Flight of Yuri Gagarin" and "The Landing of Yuri Gagarin".

• Russian electronica duo PPK's track "ResuRection" features recordings of Gagarin's flight toward the end of the song.

• PJ Harvey has a track on her album Rid of Me called "Yuri-G," where she fantasizes about the moon and being a cosmonaut.

• Gagarin is mentioned by Captain Marko Ramius along with the Sputnik satellite in the film The Hunt for Red October as an example of the former greatness of the Soviet Union.

• Space-rock band Hawkwind has a live concert album titled 'Bring Me the Head of Yuri Gagarin'.

• Electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre released a song called Hey Gagarin on his album Metamorphoses in 2000.

• English psychedelic rock musician Yukio Yung released a track called "Yuri Gagarin" on the 1996 LP "Goodbye Pork Pie Brain." It is a fictional account beginning the hours leading up to his first space flight, and how it affected his psyche subsequently.

• Manu Chao in his song "Infinita Tristeza" (Infinite Sadness) uses sound collages including a radio voice of Yuri Gagarin.

• Gorki, a band from Belgium, made an album containing multiple references to Yuri. It contained the songs Joerie (Yuri), Sneller dan Joerie (Faster than Yuri) and he was placed on the cover of the album.

• Esbjorn Svensson Trio, Swedish pop/jazz trio, recorded in 1999 album called "From Gagarin's Point of View".

• In the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Snake gives a quote that was credited to Gagarin, "The earth was blue, and there was no God," during a discussion of Russia's first manned space flight.

• Witch Season, the third album from San Francisco band The Court & Spark closes with "Titov Sang the Blues," about Gherman Titov and his runner-up status to Yuri for first flight.

• The Ukrainian rock band Vopli Vidopliassova wrote a song called "Yura" about Gagarin for their album Muzika.

• The Phenomenauts mention Yuri Gagarin in their space race-themed song, "Progress vs. Pettiness" off their 2004 album "Re-entry."

• Les Trois Accords made a song about Yuri, called "Youri", available on their 2006 album "Grand champion international de course".

• The Finnish band Miljoonasade wrote a song about Gagarin called "Lapsuuden sankarille" (To a Childhood Hero) which was released as the band's debut single in 1986.

Holy crap look at that picture! How many freakin' medals does this guy have?!? I can understand a medal for being first in space, but he looks decorated enough to command the army around with the flick of his wrist.

Does anyone know how many times Gagarin was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union? From his picture, it appears that he is wearing two of these medals. Is that correct? I would like to list him in the article on the medal, but I can't find a source that says he was awared the medal more than once. Grouchy Chris 00:52, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

He had a lot of insignia from foreign countries as well. Victordk13 10:49, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

A testimony to Gagarin's fame is that the Russian Air Force still wear an item of clothing named after him, that he has a street in central Moscow named after him and that a poll of Russians had him second to !Lenin as the greatest Russian of the twentieth century. That's why I added a note to the first para. about his reputation and will see if I can find that poll. Please leave the text as it is. He is a massive figure in Russian history and arguably equal in stature to Armstrong amongst space travellers bigpad 22:49, 17 June 2006 (UTC).

Equal in stature to Armstrong? Hmmm. Armstrong did what he did after other guys had already been there, orbited, separated, docked, separated, gone down, met up again (can't spell rendezvous), and come back home safely. There will always be risks, but Gagarin is listed first. I think he is at least as important as Armstrong. Look up "Yuri's Day" on that internet thingy right there. Dispite the conspiracy theories and the arguments about fame, this is a good article. You people are doing a hellofa good job. Keep it up. Leesonma 04:02, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, about Yuris day - probably what you mean is a hollyday, that is celebrated in Russia for centuries. And about Armstrong if you are going to compare them... Regardless greatness of the Moon landing event, scientific & technological meaning of the first man in space & first Moon landing are quite different. We are absolutly OK with all those decades without landing moon again, thats mean alot.-- Oleg Str 12:23, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Yuri Gagarin Article

"During his descent, Gagarin whistled the tune "The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows" (Russian: "Родина слышит, Родина знает")[2]. The first two lines of the song are: "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky"[3]. This patriotic song was written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1951 (opus 86), with words by Dolmatovsky. It was the first song ever sung in space."

Apollo 9 Article

"The crew sang "Happy Birthday" on March 8, 1969, recorded in the Guiness Book of World Records as the first song sung in space."

So what is the first song to be sung in space?

Correction

The following lines appear in the transcript of Gagarin's flight (in chronological order):

1. Гагарин поет песню "о далёком курносом детстве". (Gagarin sings the song "My Long-Lost Childhood")

2. Гагарин насвистывает мотив "Родина слышит, Родина знает" (Gagarin whistles the tune "Motherland hears, Motherland knows")

3. Гагарин насвистывает "Ландыши". (Gagarin whistles "Lilies of the Valley")

4. (Gagarin whistles "Lilies" & "My Long-Lost Childhood" again)

5. Гагарин напевает "Летите, голуби, летите", затем насвистывает этот мотив. (Gagarin hums "Fly, Doves, Fly", then whistles the tune)

Observations: if the transcript is correct, then the Guinness Book entry is wrong because Gagarin's flight predates Apollo 9's flight. Shostakovich's song was the second song sung in space. "My long-lost childhood" is not actually the name of the song, but rather the refrain from a 1950s nostalgic song called "Перекрёсток" ("The Crossroads").

Conclusion: Yuri Gagarin was the first person to sing in space on 12 April 1961. The first song sung in space was "The Crossroads" by E. Kolmanovsky, words by V. Selivanov [6]. -- Ya mikew 03:30, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Follow up

I contacted Guinness Book of Records (UK) about this. Their reply dated 25 August 2006:

"We have made reference to Happy Birthday being a song sung in Space by members of the Apollo IX mission, but it is not referred to as the first song sung in space, it listed as anecdotal information to a record about the Most frequently sung songs in English (printed in 1991 Book for example)."

I'll correct the Apollo 9 entry accordingly.-- Ya mikew 04:48, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Should this article be in the "Space program fatalities" category? I don't think that a low-altitude flight in a MiG-15 makes this a fatality in any space program. κаллэмакс 20:44, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

I moved inf., added pretty much by a single user here, because it is controversial and strange and does not provide exact verifiable references. For instance, it is unbelieveable for me, that "memoirs of his wife" published in 1983 in the USSR present details of the accident, discrediting him. Even if it would be true, censorship should hardly pass it by. So, please, first provide exact and verifiable references to reliable sources for each claim in the removed excerpt. Here is the removed excerpt:

"After completing his historic trip, Yuri, along with several other cosmonauts, were granted a holiday in Crimea. After a long day of boating, the cosmonauts returned late at night to the docks where their wives were involved in a long card game. According to the 1983 memoir of his wife, late in the evening after many of his fellow cosmonauts had retired, Gagarin was playing records downstairs at the hotel. Tiring, he urged his wife to quit playing cards and come to bed. She ignored him and Gagarin went door to door in the hotel. Extremely inebriated, he found an unlocked door, went in and made advances on a 27 year-old nurse. When the cosmonaut's wife came looking, he jumped off the balcony, apparently in an effort to avoid his wife.

By the time Gagarin's wife and his comrades went outside to the body, there had been a tremendous loss of blood. Yuri had cracked his skull; a summoned physician performed a life saving operation on the spot. This account is confirmed by the memoir's of Yuri's commander published in the 1990s. The Soviet system kept Yuri from the spotlight for several weeks after the incident and when he re-emerged he boasted a fake eye brow which only partially hid the scar.

In subsequent interviews Yuri gave different accounts of the incident, including claims that he was playing with his young daughter and either fell from a balcony or injured his head on a rock." Cmapm 19:28, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Does anyone know how high he flew? What was his highest altitude? I'm curious about how his space flight compared to those of the Ansari X Prize and the proposed flights of Virgin Galactic. -- JHP 04:46, 28 January 2007 (UTC)

327-kilometer apogee orbit, see http://www.russianspaceweb.com/vostok1.html 99.236.221.124 ( talk) 22:48, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

His two elder siblings were "taken away" to Germany, apparently as conscripts, in 1943, and did not return until after the war.

Ho Hum conscripted

so says the article: this seemed very problematic, bizarre and un-sourced statement so I did a little investigation.

for those who don't know and without getting long-winded 1941: The Smolensk Pocket, "Operation Typhoon" (drive on Moscow) - , Fourth Panzer Group...6 October to seize and hold the Smolensk-Moscow highway at Gzhatsketc., will give an inkling.

one source I have abamedia.com/rao/gallery/gagarin/ says: " born on March 9, 1934 in Klushino, a small village 100 miles west of Moscow....He was the third of four children. During the war, the Nazis threw his family out of their home and took away two of his sisters. Yuri helped his parents dig a dugout where they lived until the war was over, then the family moved to Gziatsk...When he was a teenager, he witnessed a Russian Yak fighter plane make a forced landing in a field near his home. It was just returning from battle, its wings bullet-ridden. When the pilots emerged covered in medals, he was so impressed...etc (Gziatsk is the village nearby the tiny Hamlet of Klushino the next step up as it were. The main city is Smolensk.) So what do Nazis do with Yuri's "conscripted" sisters ?

another similar bellsouthpwp.net/r/u/ruzwyshn/HTMLFolder/Gagbio.html "The Gagarin's house was occupied, and family had to live in a dug-out. When the Germans retreated, they took two of Yuri's sisters, but they were released after the War"

However this slightly different take at least has the correct genders from:torinoscienza.it/personaggi/apri?obj_id=495(science site in italian ) brother Valentin, born in 1924, sister Zoya born in 1927 and little brother Boris, born in '36 has this also "....on the next day came the armies of the crooked cross...The family was driven from their home and Boris almost died when a nazi hung him to to a tree with his scarf, fortunately the parents reached in time to revive him....In 43 the momentum of Hitlers ferocious army was reversed. In full retreat the beaten army carried away Valentin and Zoya Gagarin. Fate would have it that they would escape the concentration camp where they were penned up and become soldiers of the Russian army.

Voice of Russia vor.ru/Space_now/First_in_space/YGagarin/YGagarin.html goes like this (bad english version) "His father was Alexei Gagarin. His mother — Anna Gagarina. There were 4 children in the family—Valentine, Zoya, Yury and Boris"... "His father, Alexei Gagarin, could not join the army because of the trauma which he got when a child. One of his feet was shorter than the other by several centimeters... Life became harder and harder. The Nazis forced many villagers to leave their homes and the Gagarins were not an exception. Alexei Gagarin made a dugout in which the family lived for quite a long time. Once a Nazi officer came to their dugout and said that the elder boy, Valentine, who was 15 at that time was old enough to work. He and many other boys of the village were evicted to Germany. Zoya was taken prisoner a bit later. For a long time parents did not know anything about them. In 1943 Valentine escaped and sent a message home saying he stayed to help at the front. He became a tank crew member. Later Zoya also managed to escape...As soon as the war ended in 1945 both young people returned home"

Into That Silent Sea Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961–1965 By Francis French and Colin Burgess University of Nebraska Press :

"Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was born on 9 March 1934 in Klushino village, near the eastern edge of the USSRs Smolensk region. Though the Gagarin family worked on the local collective farm, they had not always been farmers. Yuris mother, Anna, had grown up in the big city of St. Petersburg and brought some of the city culture to her familys otherwise rural life. Yuri wasthe third of four children, and his mother ensured that her children either read or were read to every bedtime. To this very day, Anna later wrote,if I have an interesting book, I prefer to read it all night rather than put it down halfway through. ........Yuris father, Alexei, was a carpenter. He maintained the collective farms buildings and had built the familys house by hand from boulders and pine logs. ... His entire education consisted of two years schooling, according to Yuri...When the boy was seven years old, Hitler declared war on the Soviet Union. ....In 1941 the Nazis advanced rapidly into the Soviet Union, pushing deep into the country and capturing the areas near Klushino. The war came nearer and nearer, Yuri remembered, like the rising water at flood-time, until it reached our region. The advance was temporarily halted when,caught unprepared by the Russian winter, the invasion force was forced to gradually retreat. Those in the village able to fight left to join the army, taking the most valuable farm equipment with them and leaving the women, elderly, and children to run the farms. .. The front line of combat pushed forward and back across the Smolensk region, and was soon sweeping around Gagarins village. There were battles in the surrounding woodlands, and Klushinos prominent landmarks were shelled. Gagarins older brother Valentin, too young to be a soldier, was put to work digging trenches around the village, but such efforts would not be enough to slow the invaders. Refugees soon appeared, pouring through Klushino to make their way to safety, drinking from the Gagarin family well until it ran dry. Retreating civilians were soon replaced by retreating Russian soldiers, who ate what was left of the farm supplies. Reports arrived in the village with increasing frequency of sons, fathers, and neighbors killed on ever-closer battlefields. It was an abrupt end to the innocence of childhood for young Yuri, who saw the cruelties of war played out in front of him on a daily basis. Alexei decided that his family should flee the area too, but by the time they had packed up their belongings it was too late; the village was sur-rounded by German forces. By the end of 1942 Klushino was occupied bythe Nazi invaders, who showed no hesitation in killing any civilians whooffered resistance or otherwise questioned their authority. One particularly brutal German officer hung Yuris younger brother, Boris, from a tree to die; Anna managed to save her child just in time. We took him back,Yuri recalled grimly, and with great difficulty brought him back to consciousness. Boris could not walk for a month, and his sleep was filled with nightmares. It may be that he never fully recovered; years later, he took his own life by hanging. Boris was not the only family member to suffer under the foreign occupation. Annas legs were badly scarred by a German soldier with a scythe,and when Alexei tried to sabotage the mill he had been put to work in hewas beaten so badly he was permanently disabled. The entire family was forced out of their home by the soldiers and had to dig themselves a primitive shelter to live in. The shelter was never a safe place, with bombs shaking it until the dirt roof was ready to cave in. Valentin later said that he did not remember seeing his father smile during the entire duration of the war.The boy had little reason to smile himself; the Nazis put him to work as a manual laborer with the promise that he would be shot if he did not work hard. By 1943, Valentin and Yuris sister Zoya had been taken by the ss to a slave labor camp in Poland. Luckily, both managed to survive the horrific living conditions long enough to escape. Finding their way to the Russian army lines, they were pressed into military service. Both survived the war,but their parents would not know this until the conflict was over. With the Nazis using the village as a base, Russian forces repeatedly shelled the area, keeping the family constantly on edge. We lived in fire and smoke, Yuri said of that time. Day and night, something nearby was on fire. The Gagarins scavenged in the muddy fields for whatever food might have been overlooked, digging for the buried remains of rotting crops, surviving mostly on thistle root and sorrel soup, constantly hungry.Despite the ever-present possibility of capture and death, Yuri and the other village children did what they could to disrupt Nazi war efficiency.They placed nails and broken glass on the road to burst army vehicle tires,stuffed potatoes and rags in exhaust pipes, and poured soil into tank batteries. During the war, we boys felt powerless, Yuri remembered. We did everything we could to annoy the Germans. It was risky, but it made Yuri feel like he was doing something to resist the invaders.One dramatic event during the war had a particularly profound effect on Gagarin. An aerial dogfight over the village resulted in the downing ofa Soviet fighter, which attracted a second pilot in a rescue aircraft. Yuri and Valentin were soon on the scene, along with other children. Valentin helped the pilots salvage the usable parts of the aircraft, while Yuri brought them some food. Young Yuri was fascinated by the two fighter pilots and spent as much time as he could with them before they left in the rescue airplane.He admired their medals, took pride in looking after their map case, and was thrilled when one of the pilots put him in the downed fighters cockpit and showed him the controls. Meeting the pilots, only one of whom would survive the war, was a memory that stayed with Gagarin and changed the course of his life.At long last, in spring 1944, the front line of the war came through the region again, and the Nazis were driven out for good. What they left behind, however, was a shattered village, its fields still peppered with mines,in a devastated nation. Almost everything of worth had been destroyed, and livelihoods had been utterly disrupted. The family hunted for edible mush-rooms in the forests, the need for food outweighing the dangers of unexploded mines. With no animals left in the village, the women had to pull the ploughs themselves and plant what few seeds they had, hoping for a successful harvest. Every one of us had seen the horrors perpetrated by the oc-cupants, Yuri later recalled, and had suffered the torments of hunger and oppression; we knew what war meant. The Gagarins would have to live with the memories of the horrors they had experienced and begin anew. The family moved to nearby Gzhatsk in the spring of 1945 and built theirown house by hand from the ruined remains of their former home. Gzhatsk was as pulverized as Klushino. The charred remains of brick ovens loomed on both sides of the ruined road, Valentin later vividly described, criss-crossed with ugly, water-logged ruts.

end of conscripted I hope 68.60.68.203 06:38, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

no response for weeks- this has been corrected to slave laborers -conscript is when they put you in the army. 68.60.68.203 21:00, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

There's a NASA photo of him here if anyone wants a public-domain (I believe) shot.-- Estrellador* 19:12, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

The Google front page has a special logo on it commemorating Yuri. Click on it, it goes to search results featuring pages about him, Wikipedia being #1. -- Zanimum 13:29, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

maybe another lock on this page as it is being vandalised continually -- Speed Air Man 15:22, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

• I Further Vote for placing a lock here, Yuri Gagarin is the search term associated with Google's Doodle Today, and, upon clicking, This Page is the 1st Search Result anyone will get!!

In other words millions of Google Users are being directed here by the second (and of course not all of them have good manners or good feelings towards Yuri)... So it'd be a good practice to lock the page for a while to save it from continued vandalism. Elhawarey 15:44, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

There was already discussion about this on the administrator noticeboard. -- Zamkudi 15:46, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

I was trying to fix his death date, which was shown as "aged 4" and somehow the page has been locked. I hope someone fixes it.

SPELLING: At the end of Death and Legacy or something you guys spelt Voted rong. IT should be, "Voted on an" rather than "vetoed an"

I think it's quite correct the way it is. He must have used his power to veto to rule out an inquiry on the death of a said person. -- Zamkudi 17:08, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Does anyone know the rest of the quatrain commemorating Gagarin's achievement that begins "Хорошо, что наш гагарйн"? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.206.107.67 ( talk) 20:33, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

In Russian it goes this way:

Хорошо, что Ю.Гагарин

Не еврей и не татарин,
Не какой-то там чучмек,
А наш советский человек

Rough translation to English would be:

Nice to know that Yu.Gagarin

Is not a Jew and not Tartar
Neither he's a some Chuchmek

But just a simple Soviet man

This chastushka actually has a little to do with Gagarin -- it's a parody on Soviet treatment of ethnic tensions, which usually went as a constand propaganda push that ethnicity is irrelevant in Soviet society, and that "a new historical entity -- a Soviet Man" has emerged, while both signs of historic racism like antisemitism (referenced in the second line) or genuine grievances were both generally swept under the rug. Chuchmek is a generic slur aimed to people of Central Asian descent, who in Sovier society were generally stereotyped as rural, backward and unsophisticated. 77.35.20.223 ( talk) 12:14, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

no they mean vetoed arnau as in to veto not voted —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.198.25.223 ( talk) 23:42, 12 April 2007 (UTC).

Hey, I googled it and came up with this news article. Hope this clarifies the most recent addition.

http://uktv.co.uk/index.cfm/uktv/History.news/aid/586178

Kremlin vetoes Gagarin death probe

Kremlin officials have vetoed a fresh probe into the mysterious death of the first man in space, nearly 40 years ago. A fresh look into the death of Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin has been vetoed by the Kremlin.

Although Gagarin's flight into space in 1968 lasted only 68 minutes, his death has long been the subject of speculation.

The Kremlin has insisted that the "most probable cause of death" was a plane crash near Moscow, after the MiG-15 Mr Gagarin was flying swerved to avoid collision with a weather balloon.

However, theories to contradict this official line abounded after his death - ranging from claims that he was drunk on vodka, to abduction by aliens, to the idea that Gagarin staged his own death after the pressures of fame became too much.

Experts have long petitioned President Vladimir Putin to sanction a new investigation to put an end to the conspiracy theories.

However, in an interview with the Independent, aviation engineer Igor Kuznetsov, is angered by the Kremlin's decision to quash a new investigation into the crash.

He believes Mr Gagarin's death was caused by the cockpit not being hermetically sealed, with a partially open ventilation panel causing pressure in the cabin to cause the plane to crash.

"Unfortunately there are people who do not want to know the truth, people who have been saying the same thing about how Gagarin died for almost 40 years and can't face admitting that they have been wrong," he said.

"But for as long as this vacuum exists, people can say whatever they like and insult the pilots and by association the now-defunct USSR."

The move coincides with Cosmonauts' day, celebrated to mark the anniversary of Gagarin's orbit around the Earth on April 12th 1961.

This news story was first published on 12th April 2007. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.226.179.225 ( talk) 04:57, 13 April 2007 (UTC).

Gagarin, Y. A., Denisov, N. N., & Borzenko, S. O. (1962). Road to the stars. Moscow: Foreign Languages Pub. House.

Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich. 2001. Soviet man in space. Honolulu, Hawaii: University Press of the Pacific.

Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich, and V. I. Lebedev. 1969. Survival in space. New York: F.A. Praeger.

Gagarin, Valentin. 1973. My brother Yuri: pages from the life of the first cosmonaut. Moscow: Progress.

Ivanov, Konstantin Konstantinovich, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, Konstantin Konstantinovich Ivanov, A. Mikhno, and Konstantin Konstantinovich Ivanov. 1975. Space symphony in memory of Yuri Gagarin: in F sharp minor ; Concerto for double bass and orchestra in B minor : In romantic style

His wife and his mother have also written books about him 68.60.68.203 21:15, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Maybe I'm just being a stickler, but it feels like the tone in the first portion of the article is a little out of line with what one would expect from a proper Wikipedia article. It would be nice if someone would take the time to run through it and reword a few things some time.

Addseale2 20:41, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

I mean everyone knows the first man to walk on the moon but not the first man in space?

It depends on who you mean by "everyone". Everyone who was alive at the time knew about Gagarin, and followed his future career with great interest. I suspect he's still much better known to relatively young people in Russia than to their counterparts in the USA. The USA went further than the USSR did, and their astronauts are rightly honored in their country, and internationally, for getting to the moon. But ask a Russian about the real space heroes and pioneers, and I bet they would put Gagarin at the top of the list. JackofOz 03:09, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

The man is extremely well-known in ex-Communist countries, more so than Mr Armstrong. In fact, Louis Armstrong is probably more famous there than Neil Armstrong. I suspect that Cold War is to blame in both cases. By the way, I think being the first man ever to be flung into space is more important than landing on the moon ;-). 217.172.29.4 ( talk) 19:35, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

I think being the first man to be flung to the lunar surface is more important than living in space for over a year, wouldn't you say? 99.236.221.124 ( talk) 23:00, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin are well known, equally so, in most of the countries on the planet. The only place where Yuri seems to be forgotten is America where the majority of the population simply does not care about him. In fact if you ask 99.999% of Americans who Valeriy Poliyakov or Sergei Krikalev was they would simply say "huh?", and Sergei factualy did more for space advancement and research than Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong put together, not to mention Valeriy's monumental record which to my observation shadows anything Yuri and Neil accomplished. In short, back then the reason was propaganda and today the reason is general stupidity. 99.236.221.124 ( talk) 23:00, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

I have removed the following piece of NewAge:

In 2000, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported that Raul Streicher of Germany claimed to have become the first human in orbit on February 24, 1945, as an astronaut in the Nazi space program. The Russian newspaper Pravda reported on May 25, 2007, that Der Spiegel had further investigated this claim, studying classified archives of the Third Reich, and despite mentions of possible help from extraterrestrial technology, concluded Streicher was not lying. ^[1] The English-language Pravda translation states that Streicher "failed to provide evidence to prove that he was [the] true [first astronaut]". ^[2]

It certainly does not belong to the lead of the article Alex Bakharev 00:19, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

• Ditto. E104421 00:35, 1 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Pravda publishes a lot of "imaginative" news, such as cats with wings and USB vibrators... anyone know if the Spiegel article is real? I can't find it. Moyabrit 01:31, 2 June 2007 (UTC)

cats with wings and USB vibrators... Spiegel has been there, done that. This time however, I think Pravda may have scooped them about a secret article in their own paper they didn't know was there 71.227.123.187 09:39, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

they were able to do this because alien technology is very, very good. 71.227.123.187 09:41, 14 June 2007 (UTC)

I removed material added by anonymous that said that three previous astronauts died trying to go orbital- Ledovskikh, Shaborin and Mitkov.

Trouble is, only one guy says that, without any verification I don't think it is sustainable- anyone can say anything. It's when more than one person says the same thing that it starts to get more interesting. WolfKeeper 15:18, 17 July 2007 (UTC)

The real trouble, IMHO, is that the current source is neither detailed nor unambiguous. The article the anon is using as a source reports that a certain Mikhail Rudenko who worked at Khimki doing something not specified claims that there were three failed attempts. At the same time, the only other person involved in the Soviet space program that is mentioned in the article, Irina Ponomaryova, does not remember these three accidents. We need a bit more, here, as this information is still unverifiable. siafu 15:03, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

It is well documented in the book "Korolev" that Gagarin was not the first soviet in space. The pilot (I'll look his name up in the next couple of days) did not suffer any injuries that I can recall. His flight was a simple test to make sure that the international media attention surrounding Gagarin's flight didn't backfire. Lunokhod 22:42, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

There was an article in the English Pravda website making this claim, a few years back: Gagarin was not the first cosmonaut

As 40 years have passed since Gagarin’s flight, new sensational details of this event were disclosed: Gagarin was not the first man to fly to space. Three Soviet pilots died in attempts to conquer space before Gagarin's famous space flight, Mikhail Rudenko, senior engineer-experimenter with Experimental Design Office 456 (located in Khimki, in the Moscow region) said on Thursday. According to Rudenko, spacecraft with pilots Ledovskikh, Shaborin and Mitkov at the controls were launched from the Kapustin Yar cosmodrome (in the Astrakhan region) in 1957, 1958 and 1959. "All three pilots died during the flights, and their names were never officially published," Rudenko said. He explained that all these pilots took part in so-called sub- orbital flights, i.e., their goal was not to orbit around the earth, which Gagarin later did, but make a parabola-shaped flight. "The cosmonauts were to reach space heights in the highest point of such an orbit and then return to the Earth," Rudenko said. According to his information, Ledovskikh, Shaborin and Mitkov were regular test pilots, who had not had any special training, Interfax reports. "Obviously, after such a serious of tragic launches, the project managers decided to cardinally change the program and approach the training of cosmonauts much more seriously in order to create a cosmonaut detachment," Rudenko said.

Rudenko is the only one quoted, but that may still be enough to warrant mentioning it on the Gagarin page--if only in a "longstanding rumors" section or somesuch. -- Narsil ( talk) 08:40, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

For money the English can write anything -Konev Timofey, Russia- 92.126.54.232 ( talk) 08:47, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

The article says While in orbit Gagarin was promoted "in the field" from the rank of Senior Lieutenant to Major while the table says he was polkovnik...-- Dojarca 02:13, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Yuri is featrued in the newest game by Bioware called Mass Effect. His planet cluster is located in the Armstrong Nebula, there is also a cluster called Tereshkova. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.188.242.69 ( talk) 23:18, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

Gagarin flew in 1957 not 1961. 1961 was the year of the Cuban missile crisis. Also kennedy was shot in 1963. It is unlikely he would make a call to go to the moon two years after the first human entered space.-- Nova1999 ( talk) 07:36, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Provide a credible, valid source that says he flew in '57. Everything I've seen disagrees with your statement. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 11:37, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

In 1961 year USA put it`s middle-fly missles "Upiter" in Turkey. It was treatment to Soviet Union. Then in october 1962 year Soviet nuclear missles appeared on Cuban. This was begin of Cuban missle crisis, not 1961 year. Learn history, 'Nova1999'. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.126.54.232 ( talk) 09:15, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

The way its put there in the article makes it look like he was being used as a propaganda tool. The phrase itself is quite common when talking about the CPSU; many times on Red Square the speech concluded with "glory to the CPSU, the leader and inspirer of all our victories" (or something). The point is, the phrase was just uttered as a "matter of course", and didn't mean anything to anyone saying it. Perhaps the sentence should be cut. 130.195.5.7 ( talk) 06:55, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

Actually, there was no statement by Gagarin about the CPSU as the "organizer of all our victories". This phrase was in the statement of the Central Committee of the CPSU itself! ( Please see the text of newspaper in Russian.) Therefore, I would remove complete this paragraph completely (unless there are some contradictions), since the phrase "The Earth is blue. How wonderful. It is amazing." also seems to be a combination of actual statements (please see the discussion above in a separate section). — Ace111 ( talk) 19:32, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

I'll give you this one, considering no source is given in the article. Is the sentence "Gagarin being safely returned, Nikita Khrushchev rushed to his side and Gagarin issued a statement praising the Communist Party of the Soviet Union" correct and supported by your above source, with just the quote being wrong or not present, or should the whole thing be removed? I don't read Russian, so I cannot determine how the source is worded. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 20:53, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Remove the thing for the time being. The link Ace111 gave has exactly what you expect from a statement from the CC CPSU. Glory to our people ... Long live the CPSU ... Long live communism. Just standard pro-forma material that's appended to every thing like that. 118.90.91.6 ( talk) 09:51, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Done, especially as it was unsourced and previously challenged. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 03:20, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

For the sentence "Gagarin became the first human to travel into space in Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1) and return.", I would like to recommend that a Registered User remove "and return." Gagarin was the first person in space, period, not just the first to return, and the wording here dilutes that achievement somewhat. The article goes on to make it clear that he returned, in any case. Thank you. GalacticTurtle ( talk) 21:46, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Good suggestion, it has been implemented. I've also clarified that he was the first in space, not just the first aboard that type of Vostok (should there be any doubt...). — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 07:19, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Could I request that a registered user amend "Gagarin was ultimately banned from the space program." to "Gagarin was ultimately banned from training for further spaceflights." He was not banned from the entire program, as evidenced by the next line where he takes a management role - only from active flight in space. Thank you! SpaceHistory101 ( talk) 18:06, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Excellent suggestion, I'll make the change (with a clarification). — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 19:05, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Thank you!! SpaceHistory101 ( talk) 18:47, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

"Soviet officials weighed other factors as well in selecting Yuri: [...] his Russian heritage and even the name "Gagarin," which was also a family name associated with Tsarist aristocracy."

Any references to this? Haven't communists murdered the last Tsar and his family? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.218.41.190 ( talk) 18:01, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Done, as it was unsourced. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 03:21, 29 March 2009 (UTC)

Never look at the family name. There can be many peoples with similiar family name. For example, a girl with a family name "Romanova" is studying in my class. -Timofey Konev, Russia- 92.126.54.232 ( talk) 09:22, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

I removed "deceased" from the "status" category. I've not seen other infoboxes in which "status" is included as "alive" or "deceased". This seems rather silly and unnecessary, and a rather odd and pointless use of the term status. I looked at several other infoboxes of desceased persons. None that I looked at used this. Paul B ( talk) 03:23, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

There should be a controversy section about whether this man was actually the first man who survived in space, rather than the first man in space. Or at least some acknowledgement of other candidates.

Check

http://www.musketeer-porthos.supanet.com/page9.html

Canidates include:

Lieut. Ledovsky Cosmonaut A Shiborin Lieut. V Mitkov Unknown fourth cosmonaut Cosmonaut Pyotr Dolgov Belokonev, Kachur, and Grachev. Vladimir Ilyushin

Alex —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.124.224 ( talk) 21:42, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Find a reliable sources (news, journal, whatever), and not just a conspiracy theorist website as the one you gave, and it may be possible. However, this has been debated for a very long time, and little beyond the speculation of conspiracy theorists has been presented. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 01:02, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

There is a book about it, written by some Istvan Nemere, a Hungarian SF writer, the book in question is however not SF. It's title is "Gagarin - a cosmic lie". What about it? The author expresses many doubts about Gagarin's mission basing on certain rationales. What about it? Did anyone refute his arguments? 193.0.99.104 ( talk) 13:09, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Until some hard facts can be presented regarding this situation (and unfortunately, Russia will likely not be forthcoming), this can't really be regarded as anything more than a conspiracy theory. It simply cannot be substantiated, only speculated upon by authors such as Nemere. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 03:05, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

In the article, just after his association with the phrase, the following is put between quotation marks, implying a direct quotation:

"The Earth is blue, but there's no God. How wonderful. It is amazing."

The BBC piece provided as the source, however, reads differently. In absence of another credible source, the quotation on this site should be changed to reflect its source or removed altogether for lack of relevance to the section in which it was placed.

76.174.234.18 ( talk) 09:12, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Everything was fine in the article as it was, and I've reverted back. That [...] indicates that the original quotation was, at least in print, broken into pieces in the source. Aka, that's intentional. Not to mention, I recall there being controversy about whether or not Gagarin actually spoke the phrase "but there's no God", that the gov't propagandists may have changed the original quote to promote the party line. Whatever...we're just using a reliable source and that's what it says. — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 09:36, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

I hadn't actually changed anything in the article, I just pointed out in this talk page that the quotation didn't match what was printed in the given source. I prefer the ellipsis to the way it was when I encountered it because the quotation as it read was misleading and presumed an interjection that was clearly not present in the BBC article. Thank you for the edit. I was too timid to make the change myself. This comment and the previous suggestion are the only two contributions I've ever made to Wikipedia. 76.174.234.18 ( talk) 10:13, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. I went stupid and just saw that it was an IP edit, and assumed both the article edit and the talk page edit were the same person. Obviously, by assuming, I did make an ass of myself. >.< Please do continue contributing...you keep the brainless blokes like me in line ;) — Huntster ( t • @ • c) 10:42, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Isn't there a nicer picture of him? He is a well known, recognisable person but somehow that top-right picture just doesn't capture him at all. Fainites ^barley scribs 18:02, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Like this one if someone knows how to cut it. File:Gemini 4 Astronauts Meet Yuri Gagarin.jpg Fainites ^barley scribs 21:10, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Why would you want to use that image? Gagarin is seated to the left, and is only visible in side profile. The current infobox image is the best free image that we have in Commons, though if a better free one can be found, it can certainly be used. But no, that image isn't useful for the infobox, even cropped. — Huntster ( t @ c) 00:45, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

Hang on. I think I linked to the wrong one!! Fainites ^barley scribs 08:53, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

This one. I know he's looking up, but it's still a much nicer picture of him. File:Gagarin observes air parade Air Base near Cairo Egypt 1962.jpg. Fainites ^barley scribs 10:00, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

I'd strongly disagree with changing to this image. The main picture needs to be as standard a portrait as possible, which is what the current image is. While the image you found is good, and perhaps could be cropped and used in the article, I wouldn't want it as the primary image for specifically the reason you describe. — Huntster ( t @ c) 01:30, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

OK. It was just a thought really because that official picture of him makes him look like a middle-aged stuffed shirt! Maybe a better one will turn up. Fainites ^barley scribs 08:47, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree that a better image is needed, I just don't think that was the right one :) Definitely keep an eye out for images, as I continue to do. Note that there used to be a much better colour image here, but it was deleted for a reason I don't immediately remember. — Huntster ( t @ c) 10:06, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Guys, of course the picture that was in use was shitty. Another one that was placed below was much better, used all over in the press here when they want to write something abt him. I changed. Feel free to revert if disagree and we'd return to discussions. FeelSunny ( talk) 21:56, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

File:Gagarin space suite.jpg

. And, of course, we should not forget the one to the left - though it lacks proper license, it seems, I will try to mend it.

File:Yuri Gagarin.jpg

I've reverted your change of images, as an actual profile image is always more desirable than one where most of his head is obscured by a spacesuit. Regardless of the poor quality of the profile image, it is a much more personally recognizable image of the person than of him inside a spacesuit. Remember, we're courting people who may not know anything about the person, and may not (probably won't) recognize the image of him in his spacesuit. The rule of thumb is to provide the clearest image of the person first (and the profile is definitely the clearest of him as a person, even if not the higher quality of the two), then begin using less clear or more technical images later in the article.

Also, I had to delete the colour image as a copyright violation. As I said earlier, that colour image used to exist in a higher quality under a non-free license, sourced to website with no free license. Since other images of Gagarin exist, a non-free image of him cannot be allowed. — Huntster ( t @ c) 00:12, 30 October 2009 (UTC)

I agree to your actions. However, I beleive that Soviet copyright laws should be less restrictive, and I will try to find a free good image of Gagarin, as there were thousands of photos of him taken. FeelSunny ( talk) 09:58, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

← I agree, it seems like there should be many more pics of this individual. However, I've searched NASA.gov high and low and, well, anything of value has already been uploaded. I dunno. USSR was rather secretive with regards to its space program, so I guess promo pics weren't high on their to-do list. — Huntster ( t @ c) 10:11, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Upd. I've even searched the whole usa.gov, gives me shivers to remember:) Anyway, here is a good image of him, which could be cropped to show his face better. And here is a gallery of images, which could be used in the article. Let's start working, as most languages articles lack a good image too. FeelSunny ( talk) 10:33, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Upd2. This one is also very nice. FeelSunny ( talk) 10:36, 6 November 2009 (UTC)

Hi all. I think Gagarine main picture should be one in space suit as Neil Armstrong (1st human on the moon) or Alan Shepard (1st american in space). As 1st human in space that would be the most highly logical... Apollofox ( talk) 21:58, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

his body was creameted and burried at the wall of the kremlin cemetery. and a giant monument to his memory in yuri gagrin square in moscow facing the russian academy of Sciences =>> [7] פארוק ( talk) 11:48, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

was the first in space? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.242.114.152 ( talk) 21:46, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

This purported anecdote and variants are everywhere on the Internet:

"Gagarin was superbly prepared for his encounter with history, both physically and technologically - on the night before his flight while others paced and worried, 'Cosmonaut One' slumbered."

"Asked how he could sleep so peacefully on the eve of the launching, Yuri answered: 'Would it be right to take off if I were not rested? It was my duty to sleep so I slept.'"

The most reputable source for it that I could find is this article on BBC News, dated 1 April 1998:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/03/98/gagarin/72182.stm

However, this purported statement is in direct contradiction to information given during a press conference held in Moscow, with Gagarin present and answering questions, on or about 15 April 1961, published by "Izvestia" on 16 April 1961. The press conference was opened by the President of the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences, Academician A. N. Nesmeyanov, who said:

"Following the instructions of his physicians, the night before the flight Youri Gagarin took a sedative and slept well until he was awakened several hours before take-off time."

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, "Astronautics Information. The First Man in Space. Soviet Radio and Newspaper Information on the Flight of the Spaceship, Vostok." Compiled and Translated by Joseph L. Zygielbaum. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of technology, Pasadena, California. 1 May 1961. Available in PDF format at:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19630043160_1963043160.pdf

Information on Mark Wade's Encyclopedia Astronautica states that Gagarin and Titov were indeed visited by doctors the night before the flight, for at least one-and-a-half hour. After this Nikolai Kamanin, head of cosmonaut training, stayed up a while in the next room, "listening to them talk to one another in the dark."

http://www.astronautix.com/flights/vostok1.htm

Is a clarification worth including? May be in Wikiquotes? Or should we let it pass as the purported anecdote is not included in Wikipedia?

Aldo L ( talk) 15:04, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

I don't see why the BBC source contradicts NASA's source.. he was given a sedative, and then he slept. Gagarin said he slept, but didn't say he hadn't been given a sedative. None of the sources you've listed suggest that he wasn't given a sedative, so it seems like a fairly uncontested statement. Caution should be used when using Mark Wade's website, since it's a self-published source (and so it's prohibited from a biography); but the BBC and NASA sources seem good. Mlm42 ( talk) 05:27, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Indeed, I don't see what the issue is. I'd have prescribed a light sedative as well if I were sending my first astronaut up, given how mind-jarring the event must have been. There's no contradiction, just an additional bit of trivia. I see no reason why his well-rested-ness should be included, as it doesn't add anything to the article. — Huntster ( t @ c) 08:32, 28 February 2011 (UTC)