Yuri Gagarin statue,Star City,near Moscow,Russia. Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968),was a Soviet cosmonaut and the first man in space,He made the first manned space flight on 12 April 1961. He orbited the Earth once in the Vostok 1 spacecraft,a flight that lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. Gagarin became a hero in the Soviet Union and famous worldwide. He later returned to active service as a test pilot,dying in a crash during a training flight in 1968. His ashes were interred with full military honours in the Kremlin Wall. This statue was unveiled in 1971,and Soviet and Russian space crews,which train at Star City,lay flowers at the statue before and after their missions |