Man's First Space Journey

Man's First Space Journey

Today man has reached 'Moon' and the day is not far when man will have reached 'Mars'. ISRO has already confirmed water on the moon and has also sent its Mangalyaan. As technology progresses Human beings are crossing every boundary of space. But who was the one who first stepped into space? 

On April 12, 1961, a 27-year-old Soviet Air Force pilot made history by stepping into space. That pilot was none other than Yuri Gagarin of Russia. After this space voyage, Yuri Gagarin became the headlines of the media and became recognized around the world as the first astronaut. International Day of Human Space Flight is celebrated every year on 12 April in memory of this day. It may be a little surprising to know that before Gagarin, on November 3, 1957, the female dog 'Laika' was sent to space. Although she could survive only six hours in space. She died due to high temperature of the chamber. Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian who reached space in April 1984. After him, Ravish Malhotra, Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams have also traveled to space. 

Yuri Gagarin, the world's first astronaut , was born on March 9, 1934, in Klushino, a small village in western Moscow. Russia was then known as the Soviet Union. They were four siblings, where their father Alexei Avonovich Gagarin worked as a carpenter and mother Anna Timofeyna Gagarin worked in a milk dairy. 

Yuri Gagarin was just seven years old during World War II when the Nazis attacked the Soviet Union in 1941. The Gagarin family was made homeless from their home on the farm. The Nazis also sent Yuri Gagarin's two sisters to Germany as bonded laborers.

As Yuri Gagarin started studying at a trade school in Saratov, he was interested in mathematics and physics. In this school he learned metalworking. He also enrolled in a lowing club in the same and soon learned to fly airplanes. In the year 1955, he flew an airplane for the first time alone. Due to the increasing interest in flying, he got a job in the Soviet Air Force. Seeing his precise flying skills, the authorities sent him to the Arenberg Aviation School, where he learned to fly MiG aircraft.

During the job, in the year 1957 itself, he completed his graduation from the upper class. Now he became a fighter pilot, but his dream was to fly in space. When the Soviet government asked for applications to go to space, 3000 applications came, in which Gagarin was also one. Out of these, 20 people were selected for training, in which Gagarin was also selected. When the training started, one by one everyone went out and Gagarin remained as the most qualified astronaut. 

On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin, in a brief speech, described this work as pride and responsibility for the country and lay in his capsule. He could not control it in any way. His spacecraft took off from Baikanur at 9:07 am. and he said "Poykheli (we go far)" Entering the space, Gagarin made a complete round of the earth. At this time the speed of Vostak  was 28.260 km per hour. After this, at 10.55 in the morning, his vehicle reached back to the earth.

When Gagarin was landing on earth, he was not in the vehicle. He had separated from the vehicle at an altitude of about 7000 meters and he landed through parachute. This was done for the security reasons. Although this thing was kept hidden by the Soviet Union for decades.

The space age began with this space travel. He began to train other astronauts. But unfortunately at the age of 34, on 27 March 1968, when he was on a test flight of a Miganad fighter jet, he met with an accident and died. It was later learned that a Sukhoi fighter jet coming from the front had hit the rear of his vehicle, causing his vehicle to fall down . A courageous cosmonaut had a tragic end, but Yuri Gagarin's name was etched in golden letters forever in world history.