{gah-gah'-rin, yoo'-ree}

The Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, b. Mar. 9, 1934, d. Mar. 27, 1968, was the first man in space. Gagarin, an air force jetpilot, was chosen with the first group of Soviet cosmonauts in March 1960. On Apr. 12, 1961, he was launched into orbit in the Vostok 1 spaceship. It reached a maximum altitude of 327 km (203 mi) and circled the Earth once before landing near the Volga River. Not until 1995, when notes made by Gagarin's commander, Yevgeny Karpov, became available for public scrutiny, were rumors confirmed that Gagarin's return to Earth had been extremely hazardous. Set spinning wildly by its braking rocket, from which it separated only belatedly, the capsule continued to wobble during its final descent.

After a series of triumphant world tours, Gagarin was assigned as training director of the brief women-cosmonaut program (1961-63) and later returned to flight status for the Soyuz program. When he was killed in the crash of a MIG trainer jet in 1968, he was given a state funeral and his ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall. A prominent crater on the far side of the Moon is named for him.

James Oberg

Bibliography: Sharpe, Mitchell, Yuri Gagarin (1969).

(c) 1997 Grolier, Inc.