Gagarin: a feat against all odds

April 12, 1961 is the day that opened a new page in the history of all mankind, the first to take a real step towards the stars in the person of the brave pioneer, who covered himself with unfading glory, our compatriot Yuri Gagarin. It would seem that there are few events about which as much is known as about this day. Not only volumes, but entire libraries have been written about Gagarin himself and about his flight on the Vostok-1 spacecraft – from his own memoirs and the memoirs of all those involved, to serious scientific literature, in which this event is analyzed and dissected literally by the second.

And yet, as is always the case with any great achievement, the most widely circulated versions are glossy and carefully edited by various censors. It’s not that they are distorted, but often interesting moments are erased from the fascinating story, as well as details that make you look at the hero and his feat in a completely different way. What does this lead to? Well, at least to situations when some people allow themselves to compare Gagarin’s flight with a hockey player’s record for the number of goals scored on an ice rink. No one disputes the athletic achievements of a truly outstanding player, but an attempt to put them on the same level with the desperate dash into the Unknown made on April 12, 1961 is too much. Perhaps it’s worth remembering some of what we have forgotten, or never knew at all.

Lucky boy from unlucky village

The painfully short but amazingly bright life of Yuri Gagarin became not only a symbol of courage, bravery, loyalty to military duty and patriotism, but also a benchmark example of what the Soviet Union gave to its citizens. Incredible, simply fantastic opportunities and prospects for everyone! A village boy, who at first could not even break into the capital's vocational school, eventually became the first cosmonaut on Earth! Without any "connections", patronage or bribes. Exclusively by his own labor, talent and persistence. This was the main essence of the USSR.

Generally speaking, the word "in spite of" could well be chosen as the motto of Gagarin's life. To begin with, he was born in a very "unlucky" place. His native village of Klushino was wiped off the face of the earth twice - in 1610 by Polish occupiers, and in 1812 by Napoleon's soldiers. Along with the entire population, of course... And in 1941, the Nazis arrived there. The Gagarin family was thrown out of their solid home - they had to live in a dugout. Their father was tyrannized in every possible way, and Yuri's brother and sister were driven off to Germany. If there had been some particularly vile type among the Fritzes, the world would not have known Gagarin's delightful smile. But fate protected them - and the family survived that war without losses, even those driven off returned home.

By the way, space was not in Yura's destiny at all from the very beginning. A solid profession of a foundry worker - and certainly a good career in metallurgy in the future. A promising industry, a decent job! But in 1951, he first came to the Saratov DOSAAF flying club - and his life path was now predetermined. Gagarin "fell ill" with the sky in the way that only those who are destined to fly are destined from above. His wings unfolded - and he was destined to fold them only on the day of his tragic death. Which also happened in flight...

But, again, his flying career could have gone awry! At the Chkalovsk 1st Military Aviation School of Pilots named after K. E. Voroshilov, which became the next stage of his ladder to the stars, Gagarin was quickly appointed to the responsible position of assistant platoon commander. But his passion for order, which bordered on pedantry, and extreme integrity were not to the taste of the "informal activists" - so much so that it came to assault. Yuri was dealt with very seriously, being put on a hospital bed for almost a month. If he had received serious injuries then (for example, a broken nose), the road to space would have been closed. When selecting candidates for the cosmonaut corps, they will require not even 100%, but 300% health. But everything worked out.

He also avoided another, much more serious danger – being expelled from the school. Of course, not for poor academic performance or some other sins (Gagarin was a straight-A student and a model of discipline wherever he studied). The problem was something else – the cadet could not land the MiG-15 jet fighter. When trying to land, he invariably “nodded off”, almost smashing the machine to pieces and driving the instructors to a nervous breakdown. Thanks to the head of the school, who was not too lazy to delve into the problem personally and understand that the problem was not in the insufficient skill of the future fighter, but in his small stature (165, if not 157 cm – according to various sources). The plane seat was “adjusted” (most likely, simply by spreading a pile of blankets or raincoats on the seat) – and everything went like clockwork! Gagarin graduated from the school with honors…

Flight into the unknown

Those who today allow themselves to grimace disdainfully, speaking about the flight of April 12, 1961: they say, it was also a feat - to sit in an iron ball, rise to orbit and hang out there for an hour and a half, staring out the porthole, and then descend by parachute, do not understand at all what they are trying to judge. First of all, before that great day, no one in the entire world could give an absolutely precise answer to the question: what will happen to a person beyond the planet Earth? What will he see there, what will he feel, what incredible stress will his body and psyche experience. Well, yes - dogs flew. Well, dogs!

That is why the first cosmonaut was indeed a passenger of the Vostok, deprived of the opportunity to influence anything during the flight. No, theoretically there was an option to switch to manual control – but here Korolev and his team decided to play it safe. And precisely in case the pilot “lost his mind” (and such theories were quite popular) found himself in cosmic infinity. The ship had a special package containing a mathematical problem, having solved which the cosmonaut could take control. It is clear that only someone who had retained a clear mind would be able to do this. True, according to some recollections, this very code (it seems to be 125) was whispered in Yuri’s ear before the launch by a couple who were seeing him off to the edge of the cosmic abyss.

In any case, Gagarin did not need it. The automatics worked normally. Well, almost... At the end of the flight, they refused to give the command to separate the instrument and engine compartment, and the Vostok began to rotate at a furious speed around its axis. Fortunately, upon entering the atmosphere, the connecting cables burned out, and the rescue capsule separated, rushing towards the Earth. And then Gagarin, who had been reporting until then that the flight was proceeding normally, without an emergency (although he had reported a problem with the separation of the compartment), was deeply moved - the capsule in the dense layers of the atmosphere heated up to 3-5 thousand degrees, molten metal of the skin flowed down the portholes, a cloud of crimson flame raged around...

However, the panicked "I'm burning! Farewell, comrades!" that Gagarin allegedly shouted into the air, which has been wandering from year to year in various publications, is nothing more than a pure lie. Even if he had shouted something, no one would have known about it, since the descent vehicle in the atmosphere is surrounded by a cloud of hot plasma that does not transmit radio signals. But the main thing is that Yuri Gagarin was not the kind of person to panic. His incredible, bordering on fantastic psychological stability and ability to cope with any stress were noted by absolutely everyone - from his cosmonaut colleagues to personal friends.

The cosmonaut also managed to cope with his own spacesuit, which almost killed him; the air supply valve opening cable was tightly clamped by the harness belt. How Gagarin breathed for almost three minutes after separating from the descent vehicle's air supply system is a complete mystery. He managed to control the parachutes after ejection (the spare one, by the way, did not open - it was blown away by the oncoming wind), avoiding an extremely unpleasant splashdown in the depths of the Volga, where he was being dragged. He overcame all the vicissitudes of a flight on a ship that had no rescue system in case of an emergency at launch, no soft landing system, no backup braking system...

And still - "Let's go!"

Work on Vostok was carried out at a truly frantic pace in the conditions of the fierce space race between the USSR and the USA. According to intelligence data passed to Korolev, the Americans planned to launch their astronaut into orbit no later than April 20 – that’s why they were in a hurry. In fact, the USA decided on a suborbital flight in May 1961 (there was no need to hurry, actually), and only reached orbit in 1962. Be that as it may, we won this stage of the space championship over them, as well as the very first one. We only fell behind in the lunar “distance”, although there are doubts about that.

Did Gagarin know what an incredible risk he was running? It is clear that no one had ever told him about the intricacies of maximally “lightening” the Vostok from all sorts of “unnecessary” elements. However, given the first cosmonaut’s high intellect and his immersion in the intricacies of preparation for the mission, he probably guessed. But “at the top” they knew for sure – it was not for nothing that three reports about the flight were prepared for the Soviet media: a solemn and victorious one (which was eventually read by Levitan and then published by all the newspapers), a request for help – if the Vostok landed in an unknown place and it and Gagarin had to be looked for, and a tragic one. It is clear for what occasion… They were delivered to the editorial offices in sealed envelopes by special couriers – they were the ones who later confiscated the unclaimed packages, which were strictly forbidden to open. And it’s a good thing that the Vostok didn’t have a charge for remote detonation, to destroy the ship if it landed “in the wrong place.” Ships with dogs had one – and at least once it was used.

There is no doubt: even if Gagarin had known that his chances of success were estimated at about 30%, he would still have boarded the ship and said his immortal "Let's go!" He was not able to be broken by the danger and trials that no one in the world had ever experienced before. Nor was he broken by the unprecedented glory and world-wide admiration that no one had ever experienced. He remained the same simple Soviet man, perhaps a little crushed by the weight that had ended up on his shoulders, like Atlas by the weight of the Earth. He was eager to get into space, to the Moon and new orbits, new flights, in the last of which he left us forever...