From Kazakhstan Into Space 50 Years Ago

Fifty years ago today, the Soviets blasted off the first man into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, deep in the heart of the Kazakh steppe. His name was Yuri Gagarin, a 27-year old outstanding test pilot selected out of the 19 final candidates for the first human spaceflight. He came from very humble roots, born in a village in Smolenks oblast to a carpenter and a milkmaid. On April 12, 1961, Gagarin lifted off aboard the Vostok-1 rocket and orbited the Earth one time spending just 108 minutes in space before catapulting out of the space capsule and landing off course somewhere in the Saratov region of Russia.

By all means this was a gigantic achievement by the starving Soviet Union that was still recovering from the devastation of the Second World War. Gagarin’s flight came as a second shock following the Sputnik panic and put the American space exploration efforts into overdrive in order to catch up with the Evil Empire. It was not until February 20, 1962 that American John Glenn orbited the Earth three times. Perhaps the ambitious plan envisioned by the JFK to put a man on the Moon in 10 years would not have been as bold and daring if he was not faced with the Gagarin dilemma and the Russians leading the space race. Perhaps we (the world) would not be where we are today when it comes to space exploration if not for the Cold War’s aggressive quest to conquer and militarize space.

The anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering flight was celebrated at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Monday night by the veterans of Russia’s space program. Richard Orange of the Telegraph writes that “most of them came directly from a ceremony at Moscow’s space museum, which was attended by the heads of all the world’s major space agencies, many of the world’s 500 astronauts and cosmonauts, as well as politicians, diplomats and dignitaries.” The event was a culmination of a steady build up beginning with the Soyuz rocket, nicknamed the Yuri Gagarin, launched from the Baikonur on April 4. Flying on the Soyuz Gagarin is NASA astronaut Ron Garan and cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev, who began a planned six-month mission to the International Space Station.

Fifty years ago, Yuri Gagarin famously shouted “Poyekhali!” (Let’s go!) before the launch, although in recently declassified Russian documents to commemorate Gagarin’s spaceflight, his apparent enthusiasm masked personal doubts about his own survival. “Poyekhali!” is written on the Soyuz rocket currently in space to pay homage to the first human in space. A person, whose sacrifice changed history for the rest of us.

As an aside, it is a well known fact that Russia has been slow with declassifying Soviet documents. I think it is a misfortune because it would shed light on history and it is especially ridiculous that it just declassified materials about Gagarin’s death (it really was an accident, not a conspiracy to kill him during a flight test in 1968).