Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🚀 The Space Age began on April 12, 1961. Sixty-two years ago, mankind managed to overcome terrestrial gravitation and orbited the planet. We are particularly proud to recall that Soviet citizen and the first Soviet pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin accomplished this great breakthrough.
🧑🚀 Although Gagarin was only 27 on the eve of his space mission, he had come a long way from flying with the Saratov air club to joining the first Soviet cosmonaut squad. On that memorable morning in April 1961, he blasted off into the great unknown. A photographer snapped an image of Gagarin shortly before liftoff; the cosmonaut’s face had no sign of fear and showed the famous smile of Gagarin.
Yuri Gagarin spent 108 minutes in outer space and completed a full orbit around the Earth. Almost no one knew that history was being made on that morning. TASS news agency did not break the news until 10:13 am.
On April 14, Gagarin was riding in a convertible through the streets of the Soviet Union. Jubilant crowds cheerfully greeted him and showered his limousine with flowers. Every Soviet citizen felt that he or she was somehow a part of this historical event.
Gagarin was a representative of a county that had risen from the ashes of World War II not long before, and that had already plunged into a tense Space Race rivalry with the United States. Nevertheless, his feat belonged to all of mankind, not just the Soviet people. It served as a prologue to the glorious era of international cooperation in exploring outer space.
🌏 In the next two years, Gagarin visited more than 30 countries where he was given a hero’s welcome. The Soviet cosmonaut’s foreign tour was unofficially called a peace mission – people everywhere sincerely greeted the first man in space, regardless of their political views.
👉 Every year, on #CosmonauticsDay, a countdown begins at 9.07 am Moscow Time until Yuri Gagarin’s safe return home.
#Gagarin #Gagarin1961 #FirstInSpace
🧑🚀 Although Gagarin was only 27 on the eve of his space mission, he had come a long way from flying with the Saratov air club to joining the first Soviet cosmonaut squad. On that memorable morning in April 1961, he blasted off into the great unknown. A photographer snapped an image of Gagarin shortly before liftoff; the cosmonaut’s face had no sign of fear and showed the famous smile of Gagarin.
Yuri Gagarin spent 108 minutes in outer space and completed a full orbit around the Earth. Almost no one knew that history was being made on that morning. TASS news agency did not break the news until 10:13 am.
On April 14, Gagarin was riding in a convertible through the streets of the Soviet Union. Jubilant crowds cheerfully greeted him and showered his limousine with flowers. Every Soviet citizen felt that he or she was somehow a part of this historical event.
Gagarin was a representative of a county that had risen from the ashes of World War II not long before, and that had already plunged into a tense Space Race rivalry with the United States. Nevertheless, his feat belonged to all of mankind, not just the Soviet people. It served as a prologue to the glorious era of international cooperation in exploring outer space.
🌏 In the next two years, Gagarin visited more than 30 countries where he was given a hero’s welcome. The Soviet cosmonaut’s foreign tour was unofficially called a peace mission – people everywhere sincerely greeted the first man in space, regardless of their political views.
👉 Every year, on #CosmonauticsDay, a countdown begins at 9.07 am Moscow Time until Yuri Gagarin’s safe return home.
#Gagarin #Gagarin1961 #FirstInSpace
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🚀 On April 12, 1961, at 09:07 Moscow time, the Vostok spacecraft with pilot-cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on board blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, marking the beginning of the space age in the history of mankind.
Yuri Gagarin spent 108 minutes in space, making a complete orbit around the Earth, and successfully landed near the village of Smelovka in the Saratov Region.
While in orbit, he maintained radio contact with Earth, made observations through a porthole, controlled the operation of the ship's systems, and carried out simple experiments.
📰 Even his wife did not know about this feat. The news about Yuri's flight came out only 55 minutes after the launch of the Vostok rocket, becoming the most quoted report in the world. Overnight, the Soviet citizen became the most famous man on Earth.
Two days later, many thousands of people with flowers and welcome posters took to the streets of Moscow, honouring the cosmonaut who had arrived in the capital. At the end of April, our compatriot went on a foreign tour, travelling through more than 30 countries in two years, where he was welcomed as a hero.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: For billions of people around the world, Yuri Gagarin continues to serve as an example of heroism and selflessness, inspiring them to overcome any obstacles in pursuit of the most ambitious and noble goals (Minister's video message on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight).
Gagarin's flight embodied the triumph of Soviet science and technology and was of crucial importance for further development of space exploration and the mankind.
🌐 In 1968, the 61st General Conference of the International Aviation Federation decided to celebrate April 12 as the World Day of Aviation and Astronautics, and in 2011, at the initiative of Russia, the UN General Assembly proclaimed April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight.
#CosmonauticsDay
Yuri Gagarin spent 108 minutes in space, making a complete orbit around the Earth, and successfully landed near the village of Smelovka in the Saratov Region.
While in orbit, he maintained radio contact with Earth, made observations through a porthole, controlled the operation of the ship's systems, and carried out simple experiments.
📰 Even his wife did not know about this feat. The news about Yuri's flight came out only 55 minutes after the launch of the Vostok rocket, becoming the most quoted report in the world. Overnight, the Soviet citizen became the most famous man on Earth.
Two days later, many thousands of people with flowers and welcome posters took to the streets of Moscow, honouring the cosmonaut who had arrived in the capital. At the end of April, our compatriot went on a foreign tour, travelling through more than 30 countries in two years, where he was welcomed as a hero.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: For billions of people around the world, Yuri Gagarin continues to serve as an example of heroism and selflessness, inspiring them to overcome any obstacles in pursuit of the most ambitious and noble goals (Minister's video message on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight).
Gagarin's flight embodied the triumph of Soviet science and technology and was of crucial importance for further development of space exploration and the mankind.
🌐 In 1968, the 61st General Conference of the International Aviation Federation decided to celebrate April 12 as the World Day of Aviation and Astronautics, and in 2011, at the initiative of Russia, the UN General Assembly proclaimed April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight.
#CosmonauticsDay