Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин; IPA: [ˈjʉrʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡɐˈɡarʲɪn]; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation's highest honour. Vostok 1 marked his only spaceflight, but he served as backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission (which ended in a fatal crash). Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, which was later named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG-15 training jet he was piloting crashed. The Yuri Gagarin Medal is awarded in his honor.

Early life and education

Yuri Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino, near Gzhatsk (renamed Gagarin in 1968 after his death), on 9 March 1934. His parents worked on a collective farm: Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin as a carpenter and bricklayer, and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina as a milkmaid. Yuri was the third of four children: older brother Valentin, older sister Zoya, and younger brother Boris.

Gagarin (surname)

Gagarin (Russian: Гагарин), or Gagarina (feminine; Гагарина), is a Russian surname derived from the word gagara, meaning loon (a waterbird, genus Gavia). Notable people with the surname include:

Gagarin (crater)

Gagarin is a large lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. To the southwest is the crater Pavlov and to the northeast lies Keeler. Closer to the rim are the craters Levi-Civita to the southwest, and Beijerinck to the north-northeast. Isaev lies entirely within the northwest rim of Gagarin. In contrast with the floor of Gagarin, Isaev has a floor with a somewhat low albedo. Isaev is the largest of six craters falling within the perimeter of Gagarin that have been named after pioneers of Russian aviation and astronautics.

Gagarin has been heavily eroded by a long history of crater impacts. The worn rim forms a low, circular ridge around the somewhat bowl-shaped interior. The inner floor is covered by a multitude of crater impacts of various dimensions. Little if anything remains of a central ridge, if the crater ever possessed such a feature.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Gagarin.