ADVENTURES IN SPACE YURI GAGARIN AND THE RACE TO SPACE Ben Hubbard heinemann raintree
CONTENTS Yuri Gagarin Space Pioneer Child of War Focus on The Race for Space Cosmonaut Gagarin Spacecraft Focus on Space Rockets Countdown Begins April 12 1961 Into Space Most Famous Man in the World Gagarin’s Message Timeline Glossary Find Out More Index
YURI GAGARIN SPACE PIONEER On April 12 1961 there was a loud crack in the sky over the village of Smelkovka in Russia’s Saratov region Around 4 4 miles 7 kilometers above the village fields explosive bolts had just blown the escape hatch off the spacecraft Vostok 1 Moments later a parachutist in an orange space suit drifted down toward a farmer’s wife and her daughter working in a field The parachutist was Yuri Gagarin the first man to travel into space When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging alongside as I walked they started to back away in fear I told them Don’t be afraid I am a Soviet like you who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow Yuri Gagarin said
