"80 years since the birth of Yuri Gagarin"
"I look at the Earth and it's so beautiful". These were the first words of man in space. Yuri Gagarin, the first man orbited the Earth, was enchanted by the beauty of the Earth from above!
The Russian Cultural and Scientific Centre, assisted by the Coordination Council of Russian Compatriots of Greece, opened its doors on Friday for a special Memorial night, a debt to the first man to fly in space, Yuri Gagarin.
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of the birth of the first cosmonaut was organized a great event, which included the presentation of "Space achievements of Russia", a rich exhibition with photographic documents of the life of Soviet cosmonaut and a gala concert.
The President of the Russian Cultural and Scientific Centre Petros Kouprikov, spoke on camera of Newsbomb.gr, for the man who despite his short life, he managed very significant achievements and left his mark in the history of space exploration.
80 years since the birth of the first cosmonaut
The first steps
Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934 in the town Klousino near Smolensk. In this town spent his childhood. It is said that the favorite pastime of student Yuri Gagarin was to throwing paper airplanes during class hours.
Introduction to Aviation Club
On Oct. 25, 1954 Gagarin entered the pilot Club of Saratov. The future cosmonaut completed his studies with 'excellent' and held his first solo flight with a plane Yak-18.
Marriage
On Oct. 27, 1957 Gagarin married Valentina Gkoriatseva, which was an official to the laboratory of the Medical Division of Administration Flight Center. Valentina Gagarin always stood next to her husband in supporting and advising. Two days before the flight in space Gagarin wrote her a farewell letter, in case something would not go well.
Family Care
From his marriage to Valentina, Gagarin had two daughters, Elena and Galina. The oldest, Elena remembers how her father always cared about their progress in courses, and every morning in all weathers was taking his kids out for a short morning workout.
Entering in the cosmonaut team
On 9 December 1959, Gagarin submitted an application to join the group cosmonaut candidates. After a week he was called to Moscow to go through checkups in the General scientific research and military hospital of Aviation.
"Let's go!"
On 12 April 1961, Gagarin became the first man in world history to fly in space. His phrase "Pagiechali!" (Let's go!), at the time of launch, stayed in history. After Flight 108 minutes in orbit, he successfully landed in the vicinity of Saratov. The legend says that to identify the space capsule they sent a helicopter Mi-4, but when the crew arrived in the device, Gagarin was not somewhere nearby. Locals reported that he exited the capsule without waiting for help and arrived to the nearby town Engels, by hitchhiking in a truck.
Glowing reception in Moscow
On April 14, an aircraft IL-18 arrived at Engels to take the Gagarin, while during the flight to Moscow the plane had a honorary escort of seven fighter MiG-17. In airport Vnukovo, Gagarin reported to Nikita Khrushchev, that the "mission commissioned by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet government had been executed". The same day during a gathering held in Red Square, Khrushchev awarded Gagarin with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and that of the "Pilot - cosmonaut of the USSR".
Day of Cosmonautics
From April 12, 1962 began to be celebrated in the USSR the Cosmonautics Day. In the "City of Stars" this day cosmonauts were performing of various skits, in order to welcome the new team members.
Tour around the world
Almost one month after the flight, Gagarin was sent on his first trip abroad, which was called "Mission for peace". He visited 30 countries, including Czechoslovakia, Finland, England, Bulgaria and Egypt.
Death
On March 27, 1968 Gagarin died in a plane crash by running training flight with an aircraft MiG-15UTI. The causes and circumstances of the accident have not yet been fully clarified. According to one version, the cause of the fatal sudden maneuver was the approach of an aircraft Su-15, which was found by accident in the area that made the flights. For the death of Gagarin, the Soviet Union declared national mourning (for the first time in the history of the USSR in memory of a person who was not head of state).
Source: Russia - now
