Russians celebrate 60 years since historic Gagarin spaceflight thenews.com.pk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thenews.com.pk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
60 years ago today, a 5-year-old girl and her grandmother were in their field near the city of Engels in Western Russia, when they were met with an extremely strange sight.
Above them, they saw a large object crash to the Earth a few miles away. A few minutes later, a figure in a silver costume slowly descended in a parachute, and asked the two if he could use their telephone.
Yuri Gagarin became the first human to go into outer space, on 12 April 1961. Inside his capsule, Vostok 1, he completed one full orbit of Earth, before returning to the planet 108 minutes after liftoff. The landing zones in early spaceflights weren t as precise as they were now (see footage of Space X flights where the rocket lands right next to the pad almost every time, or on the pad before exploding), and Gagarin was somewhat off course.
60 years on, Russia celebrates space first - World News sina.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sina.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vladimir Putin told his government to do more to maintain Moscow s position in space (File)
Moscow:
President Vladimir Putin called on Monday for Russia to remain a great power in space, as the country celebrated the 60th anniversary of the legendary flight that made Yuri Gagarin the first person in orbit.
Russia s space industry has struggled in recent years and been hit by a series of mishaps, but the sending of the first human into space on April 12, 1961 remains a major source of national pride.
After visiting a memorial in southern Russia at the site where Gagarin landed after his 108-minute trip around the Earth, Putin told his government to do more to maintain Moscow s position in space.