I don’t think this is big news to anyone. Gagarin landed out in the boonies and relied on his survival training until he was located and brought back to his hero’s parade.
Here’s an old link from an old file on the drive, and it’s still working:
http://www.myhero.com/hero.asp?hero=ilyushin
I also mailed you something.
Thanks for all the info!
This is actually the first time I’ve ever heard of it. It was a bit surprising when I initially saw it, but not so much when I thought about it a little. They did all of their early missions in secrecy. Anything could have happened, and all we had to go on is what they told the world.
(I’ll read the entirety of the PM you sent when I get a month or two off work. lol /jk)
The Russians have had a couple other landings hundreds of miles away from the planned landing spot. One was in 2008.
http://www.space.com/5262-space-station-astronauts-land-target-safely.html
The real scandal about Gagarin’s landing is that, apparently, he had to parachute out of the capsule by design. This would have disqualified him from some of the international flight awards and records because they require successful take off and landing IN the craft.