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Decades later, Gagarin s journey has become shrouded in myth after many details about the historic mission were for years kept secret by the Soviets
Sixty years ago on Tuesday, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, securing victory for Moscow in its race with Washington and marking a new chapter in the history of space exploration.
Decades later, Gagarin s journey has become shrouded in myth after many details about the historic mission were for years kept secret by the Soviets.
Here are five things to know about Gagarin s legendary flight: Let s go!
A trained steelworker turned military pilot, Gagarin was selected from thousands of candidates to undergo the rigorous training required for a space flight.
March 13, 2021 at 10:00 am
Sergei Korolev (or Korolyov) was a Russian rocket scientist regarded as the father of the USSR’s early human spaceflight ambitions, and an architect of the successes enjoyed by the Soviet Union in the Space Race against NASA and the USA.
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He was instrumental in the launch of the Sputnik satellite – the first artificial satellite launched from Earth into space – and in the flight that made Yuri Gagarin the first human being in space.
Korolev had a chequered career by any standards. He was both persecuted and highly prized by his own government but, despite his achievements, couldn’t enjoy wider acclaim in his lifetime due to the USSR’s secretive nature.
Vladimir Putin crowns a new spy chief Print this article
Has Vladimir Putin just crowned a new spy chief?
It certainly seems that way. On Thursday, Putin s chief spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Sergei Korolyov has been appointed as a deputy director of the FSB intelligence service. Korolyov s record and reputation indicate that he is being groomed to replace either FSB director Alexander Bortnikov or national security council chief Nikolai Patrushev, both of whom turn 70 this year.
The powerful domestic counterpart to the SVR foreign intelligence service and the GRU military intelligence service, the FSB is responsible for national security, the enforcement of Putin s patronage networks, and the conduct of highly sensitive covert action programs. The FSB was responsible for the August 2020 nerve agent poisoning of Alexei Navalny, for example. It has also been intimately involved in attacks on U.S. government personnel around the world.
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