– the first human to enter space
EVER since Russian cosmonaut (astronaut), Yuri Gagarin, on April 12, 1961 made that historic and successful flight into space aboard the spacecraft Vostok-I,  he became a national hero and a household name across the globe. On to this day,  he remains a revered figure in Russia and the former Soviet republics and across the globe.
This was what Russian Embassy officials here, Charge D’Affaires, Dr. Sergey Tarasov, and Head of the Consular Section,  Ms. Svetlana Petrova, told members of the local media yesterday at a press conference which was hosted in honour of the 50th anniversary of Gagarin’s revolutionary breakthrough into space technology and exploration.
According to Dr. Tarasov,  Gagarin was the pioneer of human space flights and was an extremely brave endeavour risking his life to become the first human to view our planet from outer space and thereby opening the door to further manned space flights and exploration.
“2011 is marked by an outstanding date in the history of mankind. On 12 April, 1961, a peasant farmer’s son with a winsome smile got himself into a capsule eight feet in diameter and was blasted into space on top of a rocket, 20 stories high, 108 minutes later, after making a single orbit of our world, the young pilot parachuted back to Earth. In doing so, Yuri Gagarin became the first human being to journey into space,” Dr. Tarasov observed.
He added: “The flight of Vostok-I, whose anniversary will be celebrated this month – was a defining moment of the 20th century and opened up the prospect of interplanetary travel for mankind. The 27-year-old cosmonaut became a figurehead for the Soviet Union. Gagarin also received over a million letters from fans across the world, an astonishing outpouring of global admiration. To many Russians, Gagarin occupies the same emotional territory as John .F. Kennedy or Princess Diana.”
The wife of Dr. Tarasov, Mrs. Larisa Tarasov, recalling the huge impact Gagarin’s remarkable feat had on children, said her mother, who was a primary school teacher at the time, told her all the boys at that time – when asked what they wanted to become – replied “a cosmonaut.”
Unfortunately, Gagarin died at the young age of 34 when his MIG jet fighter crashed during a training exercise.
Dr. Tarasov also disclosed that Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union plan special tributes for the 50th anniversary observance, adding that “if the 45th anniversary is an indication, cosmonauts in space and on Earth can expect a chat with either Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin or Dimitry Medvedev.
The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) started a Yuri Gagarin 50th anniversary webpage to collect Gagarin memorabilia to showcase on its website while announcements about other honours for Gagarin in Moscow and the states of the former Soviet Union can be expected as the anniversary approaches, the embassy officials said.
They also pointed out that Armenia plans a statue of Gagarin while it will be a big day in Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where an R-7 missile lifted Gagarin’s Vostok-I capsule into space in 1961.
On the eve of the 50th anniversary, Russia has sent a fresh crew to the international Space Station. The three-man crew lifted off from the Baikonour Cosmodrome on April 5.
Asked if Russia’s space has been cut back since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Dr. Tarasov explained the country was a superpower then and the Cold War at the time propelled the space programme but as result of the break-up of the Soviet Union, funding is now less than what was available in the Soviet era.
In addition, economic difficulties in Russia had a dampening effect on the space programme.
Ms. Petrova said, however, that Russia is cooperating on space projects with former Soviet republics and this is helping to maintain the momentum of the space programme.