Neil Armstrong has been referred to as “First Man” as in first man to set foot on the moon. However, the First Man of Space is Yuri Gagarin who became the first human to orbit the earth.

Early Life

Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in Smolensk of working class parent. During the Nazi occupation of this section of the Soviet Union, he and his family were forced from their home and lived in a mud hut until the area was liberated. At age sixteen Gagarin worked and studied as an apprentice foundry man. In 1951 he graduated as a mold maker from vocational school and was selected for additional training at the Saratov Industrial Technology Academy. While there, Gagarin volunteered at the local flying club on weekends flying biplanes and YAK-18’s while training for the Soviet Air Force.

Military Career

In 1955 Yuri was accepted into the Higher Air Force pilots school and began his official training flying the familiar YAK-18. Soon after Gagarin was flying the MIG-15 fighter. Gagarin started his rise through the ranks of Soviet Air Force pilots, first being commissioned as a lieutenant in 1956 and then a senior lieutenant in 1959. By this time, he had accumulated hundreds of flight hours and applied for and was accepted into the new Soviet space program.

Vostok

From an original pool of over 150 candidates, Gagarin progressed to the elite Vanguard Six who would be the first Soviet cosmonauts. This group, similar to the Mercury 7 in the United States, trained intensely and in secret. Several of the Six including Gagarin did not have a higher education degree so they were enrolled in correspondence courses from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. In January of 1961 Gagarin achieved the title of Pilot-Cosmonaut and on April 8, 1961 was formally nominated as prime pilot for the Vostok 1 mission.

History changed at 0607 UTC on April 12, 1961 as Vostok 1 on top of a Vostok 8K72K booster successfully lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmdrome which is now in Southern Kazakhstan, on its way to orbit.

After one trouble free orbit and re-entry, at about 7,000 metres (23,000 ft), Gagarin ejected from the descending capsule as planned and landed using a parachute. There were concerns Gagarin’s spaceflight record would not be certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world governing body for setting standards and keeping records in the field, which at the time required that the pilot land with the craft. Gagarin and Soviet officials initially refused to admit that he had not landed with his spacecraft, an omission which became apparent after Titov’s subsequent flight on Vostok 2 four months later. Gagarin’s spaceflight records were nonetheless certified and again reaffirmed by the FAI, which revised its rules, and acknowledged that the crucial steps of the safe launch, orbit, and return of the pilot had been accomplished. Gagarin continues to be internationally recognized as the first human in space and first to orbit the Earth.

Hero of the Soviet Union

The flight was a triumph for the Soviet space program and Gagarin was an instant national hero in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. Nikita Khrushchev proclaimed Yuri a Hero of the Soviet Union and presented Gagarin with that award. In November of 1963, Gagarin was promoted to the rank of Colonel and was banned from any future space missions due to his celebrity.

Gagarin continued to be involved in Soviet space program by acting as the Deputy Training Director for the cosmonaut training facility.

Death and Legacy

Many hero’s of early space exploration died bound to earth, Yuri Gagarin was no exception. On March 27, 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, Gagarin with flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin, died when their MiG-15 crashed near the town of Kirzhach. The bodies of Gagarin, age 34 and Seryogin were cremated and their ashes interred in the walls of the Kremlin.

Since Yuri Gagarin’s lone voyage into earth orbit, more than 565 men and women have flown in space, 24 of them to the lunar environment, and 10 have set foot on the moon. His legacy of exploration and bravery still endures today in both national space programs corporate citizens.