Never before or since has the race for space exploration between the United States and the Soviet Union been so close as in the case of the first manned space flight. The race was won by Yuri Gagarin when he circled the Earth on April 12, 1961 during a 108-minute flight. American Alan Shepard followed … Read more
You can also listen to the article in audio version. If he had not died in a plane crash at the end of March 1968, he would have lived to live this March Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin 90 years old (born March 9, 1934). Who knows if he would ever look into space again, as he … Read more
USSR pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in a spacesuit before launch on the Vostok spacecraft. April 12, 1961. The author of the photo has not been identified. Photo: RGANTD. Arch. No. 1-998tsv Cosmonautics Day is celebrated on the anniversary of the first human flight into space – April 12. The holiday was established only in April 1962 … Read more