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Yuri Gagarin
by Tyler

Yuri Gagarin  was born in March,  9, 1934 in Gzhatsk, near Smoleinsk, Russia, in the small village of Klushino. He graduated from Lyberts School in 1955.

Then he graduated from Voroshilov First Chkalovsk Military School in 1957. Yuri's family never had a lot of money but they probably got more after Yuri Gagarin's first and only space misson.

He also got to be a Med-Commander of the cosmonaut group in 1963. When he went into space he went on Vostok 1 with him were: Bykousky, Nikolayeu, Popovich, Nelyubov and Titov but out of all of them Yuri Gagarin was the most famous.

Vostok 1 circled the Earth at  27,400 kilometers per hour. The flight lasted 108 minutes. Vostok 1`s "coming back" was controlled by a computer back at  the base. Yuri Gagarin, Popovich and all the others used parachutes to get down safely. They lifted off on April, 12, 1961 and landed at 7:55 April, 12, 1961.

Yuri Gagarin is often called the "Columbus of the Cosmos"! After their flight the Union paid it's thanks to Yuri Gagarin. There was even a six hour parade in Red Square in honor of them. After that General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev greeted Gagarin. He had been in the Air Force for six years.

He died a few years after that on March,  27, 1998 because of a crash on a Mig - 15 trainer.

He was married and had  two children who are still alive.

Yuri Gagarin was one of the six men that first went into space and will be remembered for centuries by the Russians.

He lived for sixty three years.

Credits:

http://www.astronautix.com/astros/gagarin.html
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level1/gagarin.html
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/gagarin.html
Gagarin picture
http://www.allstar.fiuedu/aerojava/gagarin.htm
http://www.astronautix.com/astros/gagarin.htm
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level1/gagarin.html
http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aerojava/gagarin.htm