12 April, 1961 was Gagin's first flight into space. Here are some funny stories about our hero, who I personally respect and admire
Fact 16.
Yuri Gagarin, a peasant's son, returning from space, has almost become the equal of earthly gods, kings and queens. At least the Queen allowed herself to break court etiquette and be photographed with him. The explanation she found was that Gagarin - no earthly man, but heavenly now, so can be taken photos with
Moreover, during the official reception the astronaut, sitting at a table in front of a string of cutlery, did not know with what fork or spoon to start dinner and decided to just repeat all of the queen. But she did not move, and apparently waited for him to start. Then Gagarin openly said to her, "Your Majesty, I'm just the pilot, and I was not taught how to use it all." Elizabeth II said: "Mr Gagarin, I grew up in Buckingham Palace, but I do not know where to start either, let's just eat as we want."
Before the Flight
Pre-flight preparations took place in a very tense atmosphere. Every now and then there were technical problems. There was great risk of death of the astronaut. No one knew how he human mind will behave in the space. Some psychologists believed that Gagarin would go mad, all alone in the void. Therefore, flight control was automatic.
Despite all that, Gagarin was calm and whistling his favorite song.
Gagarin -
Prince?
One of the rumors discussed in the international press was about the social origins of the first cosmonaut of the Earth. Country boy, a native of the West Russian peasant family, Yuri Gagarin was thought to be somehow connected with his namesakes, the princes, who after the Revolution immigrated to the United States. This question opened the press conference on 15 April 1961. Gagarin answer was: "Among the relatives I know, there are no princes or people of noble birth. Have never heard of them."
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