Yuri Gagarin, the first man to venture into outer space in 1961, was born a few years before I was. On this day in 1934, near the town of Gzhatsk, Russia, a so-called peasant couple brought their third of four children into the world. The family was part of a collective farming community.  They, along with many other Russians, suffered much hardship from World War II.  When his town was occupied by the Germans, their home was taken over by a Nazi officer and the family had to build a mud hut about 10′ x 10′ behind their original home.  His father was a carpenter and mother, a milkmaid.

Yuri became an apprentice in a foundry at the age of sixteen.  After graduating 7th grade and vocational school with honors, he learned to fly as an air cadet.  He was drafted by the Soviet Air Forces.  By 1959 he had achieved the rank of Senior Lieutenant.

In 1960, I was graduating from high school.  Our country was in the beginning of the “Camelot” years, with the election of President Kennedy.    The space program was part of those years and the race to get a man into space was fierce between the United States and the Soviet Union.  Yuri was being evaluated as a candidate for the Soviet space program a doctor said this about his personality:

Modest; embarrasses when his humor gets a little too racy; high degree of intellectual development evident in Yuri; fantastic memory; distinguishes himself from his colleagues by his sharp and far-ranging sense of attention to his surroundings; a well-developed imagination; quick reactions; persevering, prepares himself painstakingly for his activities and training exercises, handles celestial mechanics and mathematical formulae with ease as well as excels in higher mathematics; does not feel constrained when he has to defend his point of view if he considers himself right; appears that he understands life better than a lot of his friends

Those were the qualifications they were looking for.  As I was entering my first year of college, Yuri was going through intensive training to be a cosmonaut.  He was chosen out of twenty men to become the first man in space.  No human being had ever done this.  It was monumental.  There was no way to know what to expect when he was launched into space.  It was the first time ever.

His successful mission, in April of 1961, would put the U.S. into overdrive to compete for further space exploration.  He became a national as well as international celebrity.

On 27 March 1968, while on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, he and flight instructor, Vladimir Seryogin died in a plane crash near the town of Kirzhach.  It is believed that the crash was accidental, but many conspiracy theories pushed their way into the public opinion, much like they continue to do so today.

This man was responsible for setting the bar for space exploration.  It was the new frontier and there is still so much to discover.  It is fitting that we honor those brave enough to put their lives on the line for the advancement of exploration of any kind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YURI!