General / Off-Topic Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space (79 years old today)

[DobrijZmej]

The great Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's birthday today, March 9, 2013. He would have turned 79 years old.
How much good has been said over the years about the legendary Soviet astronauts Iuri Gagarin, a man who knows every student. Yuri Gagarin became the first man in the world, flying into space. It took place on 12 April 1961 and ever entered in the history of world space.

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Site on NASA (with video)
Site on Wiki

 

[Giskard]

Another hero. Another Russian first.

He died in a plane crash didn't he? A sad irony, considering the 'primitive' and experimental nature of all space training he was subjected to, and the hardware he relied upon.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Another hero. Another Russian first.

He died in a plane crash didn't he? A sad irony, considering the 'primitive' and experimental nature of all space training he was subjected to, and the hardware he relied upon.

Happy Birthday Yuri.

not sure about hero myself, i think 'brave pioneer' fits better, very few people if given the opportunity would turn down a chance to be the first person in space and it's not as if the technology was entirely untested

my one question is when is the birthday of the animals that were sent up before him? if any being is a hero it's Albert II, a Rhesus Monkey who died on impact after a parachute failure or Tsygan & Dezik, two dogs the Russians sent up who were the first living higher organisms successfully recovered from a spaceflight.

 

[DobrijZmej]

my one question is when is the birthday of the animals that were sent up before him?

Read about them, too, please visit page on Wikipedia.
But I'm afraid about their birthday party there. If I do not forget the dog for the flight were recruited from stray dogs, as they were prepared for severe conditions, and showed better performance than other dogs.

 

[Penthux]

What a guy. His name will live on forever.

<edit> Just noticed the newspaper footer, "Reds win running lead in race to control space" which kind of sums up the mentality of some people during that era.

 

[Perseus]

A brave guy and a real pioneer of Humanity. I hope that by 2061 we have a little bit more physical presence in our solar system, especially Mars.
I doubt I will be around when this happens -damn it!