Gagarin's flight into space opened the space age, this day became the day of cosmonautics and world aviation. Gagarin's space flight: what you should know about one of the main events of the 20th century The first flight into space on April 12, 1961

The legendary first manned flight into space, carried out on April 12, 1961, is a great event not only for the USSR and its successor Russia, but for the whole world. In this round of the space race, the USSR unconditionally won over its main competitor, the United States. But how was the preparation and the flight itself carried out? and What happened after Gagarin flew over our land and landed back? All this, of course, still arouses the interest of many people.

How was the preparation

Leading Soviet specialists prepared very carefully for sending a man into space. Applicants for the role of the first cosmonaut (initially there were 20) were not the most the best aces, but this was not necessary - they were selected according to other parameters. Korolev, the chief designer of the Vostok-1 satellite and a pioneer of practical astronautics, needed a pilot up to thirty years old, weighing up to seventy-two kilograms and up to one hundred and seventy centimeters tall, with excellent psychophysical health.

Such requirements were dictated by the complexity of space flights and the design of the cabin of the Vostok-1 module - only one person with certain data was placed in it. Plus, it was necessary that the astronaut was a real communist, and not non-partisan.

When designing the Vostok, several simple but very effective solutions were invented, which were later used on other space rockets. It was not possible to do some things on time, and, for example, for this reason, it was decided not to insert an emergency rescue system here at launch. On top of that, the second braking system, duplicating the first, was removed from the design of the ship already under construction. The refusal of it was justified by the fact that Vostok-1, having entered a not too high orbit (up to 200 kilometers), would still fly off it within ten days due to braking on the upper atmospheric layers and return back to our planet . And the life support systems on the satellite ship were also enough for a maximum of ten days.

Sergei Korolev wanted to launch his apparatus into outer space as soon as possible, because there was information that the States were planning to implement something similar in the second half of April 1961. First, 6 out of 20 applicants were chosen, and the final decision on who exactly should fly was made at one of the meetings of the state commission - the candidacy of Yuri Gagarin was approved (German Titov was appointed as an understudy). And April 12 was chosen as the date for the launch of Vostok-1.

Biography of Gagarin before the day of the flight

Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in an ordinary family of workers. He spent most of his childhood in the town of Gzhatsk (now this city is Smolensk region called Gagarin) and neighboring villages, survived, as a little boy, the fascist occupation. In October 1955, Gagarin was called to military establishment and sent to Chkalov (this city is now called Orenburg) to the local aviation school. Gagarin studied with the pilot Yadkar Akbulatov, who at that time was considered one of the best specialists in his field.

In his studies, Yuri in all subjects had a very high marks and he was even appointed assistant platoon commander. But at the same time, he could not master the landing to perfection - the nose of the plane leaned down a little all the time. At one point, because of this, it was even decided to expel him. But Gagarin begged to give him another chance, said that he could not imagine his life without the sky. As a result, he managed to make a perfect landing. In October 1957, the document on graduation from the school was nevertheless issued to Yuri Gagarin.

Then he served for two years in a fighter regiment near Murmansk. And at the end of 1959, he was included in the list of candidates for astronauts and asked to come to the capital for a medical examination. By this time he had the rank of "starley" (senior lieutenant).

The launch success rate was not 100%

The fact of the launch of Vostok-1 was not covered in advance - the authorities sought to ensure secrecy. In general, many had doubts about the success of this flight - many facts speak of this. For example, it is known that on the eve of the flight, Gagarin wrote a touching farewell letter to his wife and children. But since he was still able to return back to Earth, that day the letter was not shown to the addressees. Only after the death of the astronaut in 1968, he was handed over to his wife.

And TASS (the main news agency of the Soviet Union) prepared in advance, even before April 12, three different reports about this flight: in case of its successful completion, in case of searching for an astronaut abroad, and in case of a fatal accident.

One cannot discount the fact that before the April flight of Vostok-1, six test launches had already been made and three of them ended in tragedies. On May 15, 1960, the satellite ship, which was launched into orbit, could not descend to earth due to problems in the orientation system - it flies around our planet even now. In September 1960, immediately during takeoff, a rocket exploded, there were two dogs on board. The launch on December 1 started off well: the dogs Pcholka and Mushka climbed into orbit as planned. But the descent trajectory at the end of the flight turned out to be wrong - the ship with the animals inside it exploded and completely burned out.

Legendary flight: 108 minutes that changed history

Vostok-1, piloted by Yuri Gagarin, launched from Baikonur on April 12, 1961 at 09:07 (Moscow time). The head of the launch was rocket engineer Anatoly Kirillov - he gave commands for the stages of the rocket launch and supervised their implementation, monitoring the situation from the command cabin.

As soon as the launch vehicle began to rise, Gagarin said that very famous word: "Let's go!". In general, the launch vehicle performed its functions without any problems. Only at the final stage did not work the system responsible for turning off the engines of the third stage. The engines turned off only after the back-up mechanism worked. By this time, the satellite ship was already a hundred kilometers above the planned orbit.

Gagarin, while in orbit, talked about his own observations. Through the porthole he looked at the Earth with its clouds, mountains, oceans and rivers, saw the clouds and the atmosphere from the blackness of space, the Sun and distant stars. He liked the view of our planet that opened to him. He even urged people to preserve this beauty, and not to destroy it. Gagarin was most impressed by the horizon - it separated the globe from a very black sky.

Gagarin also conducted several experiments: he ate, drank water, made a couple of notes with a simple pencil. At some point, he let go of the pencil, and it immediately began to float away from him. Gagarin came to the conclusion that such things in weightlessness should be recorded.

Before the flight, it remained a mystery how the human psyche can react to the conditions of space, so a special protection against the pilot's insanity was implemented inside the ship. To control the ship, Gagarin had to switch to manual control. And for this he needed to open an envelope with one piece of paper, on which was written mathematical problem. Only by solving it, it was possible to find out the access code to the control panel.

In general, the flight went smoothly, there were no serious emergency situations. The duration of this flight was 108 minutes, during which time the satellite made one single revolution around the globe.

But when returning to Earth, during landing, the braking system failed a little and there was a slight deviation from the course.

At an altitude of seven kilometers, in full accordance with the plan, Gagarin ejected, after which the module and the cosmonaut in a spacesuit began to descend on two different parachutes (this method of landing was used, by the way, in the other five Vostok rockets). By adjusting the parachute straps, the cosmonaut was able to avoid falling into the cool waters of the Volga and landed on the shore. Thus ended this space flight.

After the flight

After landing, Gagarin was accidentally met by the forester's wife and her granddaughter - they were just walking in these places. Then the military appeared in the landing area - they delivered the pilot-cosmonaut to military unit. Here he got in touch with the command and reported that the task assigned to him was completed.

As soon as Khrushchev became aware of this, he called Defense Minister Malinovsky. During the conversation, Khrushchev asked that Gagarin be promoted to the rank of major as soon as possible. And by the way, in the TASS reports of April 12, Major Yuri Gagarin already appeared. But the astronaut himself learned about his new rank only after landing. And a little later he was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union."

Initially, no festivities associated with the appearance of Gagarin in Moscow were planned. But suddenly plans changed, a solemn meeting was organized in a hurry. On an Il-18 plane, the cosmonaut arrived at the capital's Vnukovo airport, where an enthusiastic crowd, media representatives, and top officials were already waiting for him. Soviet state. Then Gagarin was driven along the main streets of Moscow in an open-top ZIL car. Gagarin rode standing and greeted those who came to meet him. Congratulations sounded from all sides, many brought posters with them. Some man even made his way through the exposed cordon and handed flowers to Gagarin.

Then, on Red Square, the cosmonaut, having walked along the red carpet, reported on the successful flight to Nikita Khrushchev. Some people who watched this newsreel drew attention to the untied lace on Gagarin's boot. This funny detail made the astronaut even more beloved by the people.

The legendary footage of Gagarin in a heavy helmet saying “Let's go” was not filmed before the launch itself, but much later - that is, this pure water imitation. On April 12, none of the main participants in the launch had any time for filming. Then they decided to recreate these shots - Yuri Gagarin and Sergei Korolev in front of the cameras repeated everything they said and did on the morning before the launch.

This space flight attracted the attention of people from all over the globe, and Gagarin became a celebrity on an international, planetary scale. At the invitation of the top officials of other states, he visited about three dozen countries. The cosmonaut also made many trips across the territory of the Soviet Union. Interestingly, in the sixties of the last century, the most popular male name in the USSR became the name Yuri. Many couples wanted to name their children after a man who flew into space.

Gagarin speaks to the audience: the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida looks at him enthusiastically

In the sixties, Gagarin led a noticeable social activities, worked at the Cosmonaut Training Center, he had a second space flight in his plans ...

However, on March 27, 1968, Gagarin died unexpectedly and prematurely in a plane crash during Vladimir region. He crashed when, together with instructor Vladimir Seregin, he carried out a planned flight on a MiG-15UTI aircraft. The circumstances of the disaster have not been fully elucidated to this day. It was just that communication with the MiG was lost, and then its wreckage was found several tens of kilometers from the airfield.

In connection with the death of Gagarin, mourning was declared in the Soviet Union. In honor of the pilot-cosmonaut were named settlements, separate avenues, lanes and streets. On top of that, in different parts of the Earth it was discovered great amount monuments and sculptures dedicated to Gagarin.

The value of Gagarin's flight on Vostok-1

This flight, of course, opened new era- the era of human exploration of previously unknown and striking in its scale space expanses. How far this development will go, what we can achieve along the way, is not yet very clear. For example, now there is talk about the colonization of the Moon and Mars.

But there is no doubt that this path began on April 12, 1961. And it is quite natural that every year on this spring day such a holiday as Cosmonautics Day is celebrated.

The history of human space exploration began with Gagarin's flight

Forever Soviet citizen Yuri Gagarin will be in our memory and in the memory of our descendants the first man in space. No one will ever take away this status and this title from him.

Documentary "A Star named Gagarin"

The launch was carried out from the first launch complex of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Launch vehicle "Vostok 8K72K" launched into low Earth orbit spaceship Vostok, piloted by the first Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

The Vostok spacecraft was launched into orbit with the following parameters: inclination - 64.95 degrees, orbital period - 89.34 minutes, minimum distance from the Earth's surface - 181 kilometers, maximum - 327 kilometers.

The flight of the first cosmonaut lasted 1 hour 48 minutes. After one orbit around the Earth, the spacecraft's descent module landed at Saratov region. At an altitude of several kilometers, Gagarin ejected and made a soft landing on a parachute not far from the descent vehicle. The first cosmonaut of the planet was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and the day of his flight became a national holiday - Cosmonautics Day, starting from April 12, 1962.

Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in peasant family. His mother, Anna Timofeevna, and father, Alexei Ivanovich, were from the village of Klushino, Gzhatsk region. Having gone through a difficult time German occupation, the Gagarin family in 1945 moved from Klushino to the city of Gzhatsk. After graduating from school, on September 30, 1949, Yuri entered the Lyubertsy vocational school, from which he graduated in June as a molder-caster.

In August, he entered the Saratov Industrial College, and in 1954 he began to study at the Saratov flying club. In 1955, Gagarin graduated with honors from the Saratov Industrial College, and on October 10 of the same year, from the Saratov Flying Club. On October 27, 1957, he married Valentina Goryacheva, who became his faithful companion for many years. Two daughters grew up in their family - Elena and Galina.

The selection of the first cosmonauts to the detachment began two years before the legendary launch. Chief designer Sergei Korolev outlined the requirements - age about 30 years old, weight up to 72 kilograms, height - no more than 170 centimeters.

The training program for the first set of cosmonauts was distinguished by extreme rigidity. All pilots had to undergo the strictest medical selection, tests on a centrifuge, in a pressure chamber, on a vibration stand, a rotating chair, and also to pass tests for complete isolation in the so-called "silence chamber" measuring about three steps in length and one and a half - in width. Yuri Gagarin, along with everyone else, successfully passed the test in the period from July 26 to August 5, 1960.

The launch was carried out from the first launch complex of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Vostok 8K72K launch vehicle launched the Vostok spacecraft, piloted by the first Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, into low Earth orbit. The understudy, who had the opportunity to replace Gagarin at any time before the start, was German Titov. A reserve cosmonaut, Grigory Nelyubov, was also appointed for insurance purposes.

The first cosmonaut of the planet died on March 27, 1968 during a training flight in adverse weather conditions. According to the official version, the MiG-15 aircraft, piloted by Gagarin and the commander of the training regiment of the Cosmonaut Training Center, Colonel Seregin, went into a tailspin, and allegedly there was not enough height to bring it out. The plane fell into the forest and crashed near the village of Novoselovo, Kirzhachsky district, Vladimir region.

In order to perpetuate the memory of Gagarin, the city of Gzhatsk, Smolensk region, was renamed Gagarin. The name Gagarin was given to the Air Force Academy in the town of Monino near Moscow. Gagarin Scholarship for Military Cadets Established aviation schools. Gagarin's name is borne by the Cosmonaut Training Center, the research ship of the Academy of Sciences, the streets and squares of many cities around the world.

A memorial has been erected in the village of Smelovka near the landing site of the first cosmonaut. A united memorial house-museum operates in the city of Gagarin, part of the exposition of which can currently be seen on the website. One of the largest craters on reverse side The moon (diameter 250 kilometers), located between the Tsiolkovsky crater and the Sea of ​​Dreams, also bears the name of the pioneer of the universe.

April 1961

What made the twentieth century famous?
A MAN has been launched into space!
And no one knew what would happen to him
Landed! Safe and sound!
Young, fair-haired guy!
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin!
He literally blew everyone away!
DO NOT forget that magic - smiles
And the whole world applauded him,
Dacha Podlipki rejoiced!
Cosmos in the cold relatives
The snow in the sun shone with stars!
That spring he may be like me
Did you fall in love with Yuri Gagarin?

Galina Gorlova

What was he, Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut of the planet? How and where did he spend his childhood? How and where did he study? How did you become an astronaut? Yuri Nagibin wrote about this in his book STORIES ABOUT GAGARIN. For middle school age.

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An eminent science communicator, great storyteller, passionate cosmic promoter, visionary, Carl Sagan believes that the desire to wander and expand the frontiers of knowledge is inherent in human nature and is related to our survival as a species. His heartfelt, compelling book interweaves philosophical musings with enthusiastic descriptions of triumphant planetary and satellite exploration, from both human lunar exploration and robotic missions. By introducing us to our space neighbors, Sagan not only enlightens and delights the reader, he also helps to understand how to protect the Earth.

How did it all start? Gagarin's flight into space, which was the first in the history of mankind? And all this happened on April 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin, a citizen of the Soviet Union, who had the rank of senior lieutenant, was the first person to make a space flight in orbit around the Earth on the Vostok spacecraft. Thus, he opened the era of space flights on manned spacecraft.

The entire flight of Gagarin into space lasted 108 minutes, but despite this, it was a powerful impetus for the continuation of space exploration. Yu.A. Gagarin, as the first cosmonaut, received the rank of aviation major ahead of schedule and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

Astronaut candidate selection and preparation.

How to determine who is first obliged to fly into space, of course, this, of course, must be a pilot, moreover, a pilot of fighter jet aviation. Taking into account the specifics and capabilities of the then space technology, special candidates were needed - these are people who are absolutely healthy and professionally trained, as well as disciplined and corresponding to the whole complex of physical and medical conditions.

In addition to Yu.A. Gagarin, there were still applicants for the first flight into space. There were only twenty of them. Applicants were selected among fighter pilots, this was decided by Korolev, who believed that it was precisely such pilots who had experience of overloads, as well as stressful situations and large pressure drops.

In addition, the selection of candidates was made taking into account positive characteristics, party membership, as well as political activity and social origin. Moreover, flight qualities did not play a significant role directly in the selection.

There were two leaders in the first cosmonaut training detachment, they were Yuri Gagarin and German Titov.

Of this number, twenty people selected six, this was due to the fact that Korolev was in a hurry, because there was information that somewhere at the end of April 1961, the Americans wanted to send their man into space. Therefore, the launch of the USSR planned April 11 - 17 in 1961. The first cosmonaut was determined at the last moment, it was done at a meeting of the Civil Code, it was Yu. Gagarin, and his comrade, German Titov, became an understudy.

And so, on April 3, 1961, the assembled Presidium of the Central Committee finally made a decision on manned space flight.

And five days later, on April 8, 1961, a regular meeting was held State Commission, which decided the issue of launching the Vostok spacecraft. This commission approved the task for a man on the first space flight, which was signed by S. P. Korolev, as well as N. P. Kamanin. Here is the text -

“Perform a single-turn flight around the Earth at an altitude of about 180-230 kilometers, as well as a duration of about an hour and a half, with a landing in a given area. The purpose of the flight was also determined, it consisted in the following, it was necessary to check the following: the possibility of a person staying in space on a special, equipped ship, the equipment of the ship in flight, the connection of the ship with the Earth, and also to make sure the necessary reliability of the landing of the ship with the astronaut.

After the end of the open part of the meeting, remaining in a narrow composition, the commission, which approved Kamanin's proposal for admission to Yuri Gagarin's flight, that is, Gagarin's flight into space was to be the first, and his friend Titov should be approved for this flight as a reserve cosmonaut.

The first human space flight, Gagarin's flight into space

The participation of the USSR in the race for space exploration leads to the fact that in the work on the creation of the Vostok spacecraft they chose a number of not the best, but simple and quickly feasible solutions.

The Vostok spacecraft launched on April 12, 1961 at 09:07 Moscow time from the Baikonur cosmodrome, located in Kazakhstan, with pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin on board; Yuri Gagarin had the call sign "Kedr". Dana was the command "to start", then Gagarin uttered his phrase, which has long become famous: "Let's go!".

In flight, Gagarin in space, in orbit, conducted the simplest experiments: i.e. he ate, drank, made notes with a pencil. "Putting" a pencil next to him, he accidentally discovered that he immediately began to swim away. Gagarin concluded from this: pencils and other objects that are in space must be secured, i.e. tie. He recorded his feelings and observations on a tape recorder.

Upon completion of Gagarin's flight into space, the braking propulsion system, the famous designer Isaev, worked successfully, but with a slight shortfall in momentum, so the automation issued a signal to prohibit the standard separation of compartments.

During the descent, at an altitude of about 7 km, exactly in accordance with the given flight plan, Yu. Gagarin ejected, after which the capsule, as well as the cosmonaut, began to descend on parachutes separately. This is where the problem arose, oddly enough it turned out to be the landing site. Yuri Gagarin parachuted into the winter river water of the Volga. But this time, Yuri Gagarin was helped by excellent pre-flight preparation - he, managing the lines, was able to take the parachute away from the river water, and landed at a distance of about 1.5-2 kilometers from the river bank.

Return to Earth

Having made one revolution around the Earth, Yuri Gagarin at 10:55:34 at 108 minutes on his ship completed the flight.

He was first met on the ground, after the flight, by people who turned out to be the wife of a local forester Anna Takhtarova and their six-year-old granddaughter Rita. After a short time, military and local collective farmers arrived at the landing site. A group of military men, one of them guarded the descent vehicle, and the second group took Gagarin to the area where the unit was located. From here, Y. Gagarin reported by telephone to the air defense division commander the following: “Please tell the Air Force Commander-in-Chief: I completed the task, landed in a given area, I feel good, there are no bruises or breakdowns. Gagarin.

At this time, a Mi-4 helicopter took off from the Engels airfield, the crew of which needed to find and pick up Gagarin. This crew, the crew of the Mi-4, immediately discovered the descent vehicle, but Gagarin was not next to him; local residents explained the situation, they said that Y. Gagarin had left by truck for the city of Engels.

Then the Mi-4 took off and headed for the city of Engels. From the helicopter on the road, not far from the checkpoint, they noticed a car in which Gagarin, after the report, was already heading to his descent vehicle. Here Yuri Gagarin got out of the car, waved his arms, the helicopter pilots picked him up and flew to the Engels airfield, transmitting a radiogram with the following content: "The astronaut has been taken on board, I'm going to the airfield."

At the airfield in Engels, Gagarin was already impatiently awaited, the entire leadership of the base pulled up to the helicopter ladder. Gagarin was handed a telegram from the Soviet government with congratulations. In a Pobeda car, Gagarin was taken to the command and control tower, and then to the base headquarters in order to contact Moscow.

Approximately three hours after Gagarin's arrival in Kuibyshev, Korolev and several other representatives from the State Commission arrive there. At about 9 pm they set the table and celebrate the successful flight and the return of Gagarin from space.

Given the secrecy of the first manned flight into space, as well as the fact of the launch and flight of Gagarin into space, they were not covered in advance. Wide famous shots with Gagarin, were filmed not on the day of launch into space, but later, especially for newsreel, where Gagarin repeated everything he did during a real launch.

Events after space flight Yu.A.Gagarina

Successful carrying out of the planned research and fulfillment of the flight program On April 12, 1961, at exactly 10:55 Moscow time, the Soviet spacecraft Vostok made an accident-free landing in a given area of ​​the Soviet Union.

Pilot-cosmonaut Major Gagarin said: "I ask you to report to the party and the government that the landing went well, I feel good, I have no injuries or bruises."

This flight of Gagarin into space opened up grandiose prospects for the conquest of space by mankind.

It was a TASS message that was prepared in advance ...

Yuri Gagarin's meeting in Moscow

Initially, no one planned such a grand meeting of Gagarin in Moscow. It was all decided at the last moment, and Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev decided it. He called the Kremlin and insistently demanded a worthy meeting with Gagarin, the first cosmonaut.

On April 14, an Il-18 flew for Gagarin; on approaching Moscow, the plane was accompanied by an honorary escort of fighters, consisting of seven MiG-17 fighters. The plane with an escort solemnly flew over the center of Moscow, then over Red Square, and landed at Vnukovo Airport, where Y. Gagarin was expected by a grand reception: a lot of jubilant people, journalists and cameramen, as well as the country's leadership.

Then there was a trip in an open "ZIL-111V", Gagarin greeted those who met them standing. Congratulations were heard all around, many waved posters. One man managed to break through the cordon and personally handed a bouquet to Gagarin. A rally was held on Red Square, at which Nikita Khrushchev announced that Yuri Gagarin had been awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union, as well as Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR.

Foreign visits

Yuri Gagarin's first trip abroad was to Czechoslovakia. He flew on a regular Tu-104 plane to Prague. The passengers of the flight, when they recognized Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, rushed for autographs.

Yuri Gagarin visited Finland twice - in 1961 and 1962.

In 1961, in July, Gagarin arrived in the UK, he was invited by the foundry union of England.

And in 1961, Gagarin managed to visit Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Finland, Great Britain, as well as Poland (July 21-22), Cuba, Brazil with a short stop on the island of Curacao, visited Canada in the same year with a stop in Iceland, Hungary, India, Ceylon, Afghanistan.

In general, Yu.A. Gagarin visited almost all countries of the world, where he was greeted joyfully and kindly.

Thus began an era, the era of the exploration of near space by mankind!

April 12 is forever inscribed in the history of mankind as Cosmonautics Day!

On April 12, 1961, an event took place that will remain in the memory of all subsequent generations of people. It was on April 12, 1961 that a man made the first flight into space in history. This flight was performed by Yuri Gagarin. It became possible only thanks to the selfless work of Soviet scientists and engineers. Yuri Gagarin's flight into space was made on the Vostok spacecraft, whose weight was 4730 kg. Vostok was launched into space using a three-stage launch vehicle. The maximum distance of the ship's orbit from the Earth's surface was 327 km.

The question is often asked about how long Gagarin's flight lasted. It did not last long - only 108 minutes. However, the air and food supplies on board the Vostok would allow spending 10 days in space. During this flight, some of the most important tasks were resolved:

• testing of all ship systems;
• study of the impact of weightlessness on the human body;
• study of the impact of flight on the psychological and physiological state of a person.

During the flight, many difficult situations arose. There was a failure on the communication line, the tightness sensor did not work, the aggregate compartment did not separate for a long time, the spacesuit jammed. The only stage of the flight that went as planned was the ejection of the cosmonaut and his subsequent successful landing at a short distance from the spacecraft.

Gagarin landed near the village of Smelovka, search services found him just 1 hour later. At the end of the flight, the first man in space was awarded the rank of major.

In Moscow, Gagarin was waiting for a solemn meeting, however, it was not originally planned. Initiated it personally. Gagarin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR. After the solemn meeting, the first cosmonaut attended a press conference with foreign journalists. Gagarin made many foreign trips. He visited Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Finland, England, Poland, Egypt, France.

Yuri Gagarin passed away early, at the age of 34. The last flight of Gagarin, made together with Seregin on March 27, 1968, ended tragically. The reason for the death of Gagarin and Seregin, according to the official version, was a sharp maneuver to evade the Charzond. But there are many alternative versions, such as bad weather, design flaws in the aircraft, and a deliberate imitation of a disaster by the pilot.

Gagarin's first flight into space was made in the conditions of a tough confrontation between the USSR and the USA, socialism and capitalism. He confirmed the superiority Soviet science and technology, thus demonstrating the might of the Soviet Union. The flight of the "Vostok" is an impetus for the development of many scientific and technical industries. It was hailed by the world community as the greatest accomplishment in human history.