Posted on 04/13/2016 7:53:21 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Less than seven years after his history-making mission, Gagarin died in a plane crash at only 38 years old. The cosmonaut and his flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin were flying a routine training exercise when they were lost, and the mysterious circumstances of the wreck have inspired a half-century of wild speculation. With little more than Soviet-sponsored reports, KGB investigations, and long withheld testimony as explanations, conspiracy theories sprung up to explain why a plane piloted by two experienced Russian airmen suddenly just fell out of the sky. So what really happened to the first man in space?
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
The Reds passed off Gagarin as an astronaut, and then later tried to make him a pilot.
Back around 1968-1969, SCIENCE AND MECHANICS magazine has a series of articles claiming the Gagarin’s trip into space was a fake. They also claimed later trips into space were also fakes.
Did he know the Clintons?
Career in the Soviet Air ForceValentina Gagarina, Sima Eivazova and Yuri Gagarin in Bulgaria in 1966 After graduating from the technical school in 1955, the Soviet Army drafted Gagarin.[7] On a recommendation, Gagarin was sent to the First Chkalov Air Force Pilot's School in Orenburg, and soloed in a MiG-15 in 1957.[4][6][7] While there he met Valentina Ivanovna Goryacheva,[3] a medical technician graduate of the Orenburg Medical School.[6][8] They were married on 7 November 1957, the same day Gagarin graduated from Orenburg.[3][6]
Post-graduation, he was assigned to the Luostari airbase in Murmansk Oblast, close to the Norwegian border, where terrible weather made flying risky. He became a Lieutenant in the Soviet Air Forces on 5 November 1957; on 6 November 1959 he received the rank of Senior Lieutenant.[9]
He was a pilot before he joined the Cosmonaut program, although who knows how good of a pilot he was.
He was actually a pilot before he went to space. Rumor is that he was picked partly because of his diminutive size.
A lot of our astronaut/rocket test corps had engineering backgrounds as well, Crossfield and Armstrong come to mind.
‘conspiracy theories sprung up to explain’
Should be:
‘conspiracy theories sprang up to explain’
Gherman Titov was the first choice, however Gagarin had the proper “proletarian” peasant background, thus rode Vostok 1. It was about propaganda value.
Probably was being a hot shot and pilot error.
Now that you mention it, I remember something about Gagarin being ejected at 20,000ft, technically making him ineligible for a “first” record of a successful takeoff and landing.
The Soviets weren’t too sure about landing survivability at the time.
“the exercise, which included barrell rolls and vertical loops”
In a MiG-15, in Soviet run airspace, in 68’, with other unrelated planes in the area. No, that should have been a completely safe operation. /s
If you really want to know what it's like, read the tail end of "Too Far From Home". It's the account of the ISS crew that was the first to come back when Columbia's breakup grounded the SSTs.
Probably any account of non-Soviet/Russian Mir visitor too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.