In memory of Yuri Gagarin - he flew, overtaking eternity
They said about Gagarin that he was born in a shirt. Death more than once came close to him. Yuri Alekseevich admitted that only a happy fate did not allow him to end his life under the fence at the very beginning of his risky post-war youth.
You won't believe me and you just won't understand:
More terrifying in space than even in Dante's hell -
In space-time we are premier on a starship,
As from a mountain on its own backside.
V. Vysotsky.
They said about Gagarin that he was born in a shirt. Death more than once came close to him. Yuri Alekseevich admitted that only a happy fate prevented him from ending his life under the fence at the very beginning of his risky post-war youth. Gagarin entered a vocational school with a free uniform and food to survive, then there was a foundry, an industrial technical school and … an aeroclub. For some reason, it was in the hell of the foundry that the future first cosmonaut of the Earth realized how frantically he wants to fly.
Here he will go first …
This crazy desire, fantastic love of life and amazing dedication became the fate that brought the guy from the village of Klushino into near-earth orbit, where a lucky chance simply had no alternative. The competition was fierce. Thousands of young, healthy and beautiful guys dreamed of seeing the Earth from space. After all the selections, there were three of them left: German Titov, Grigory Nelyubov, Yuri Gagarin. The opinions of the responsible comrades were divided. And only the Chief Designer did not doubt for a minute which of these three would calmly go to certain death.
The first acquaintance with the Vostok ship happened a year before the launch. "Who wants to get inside first?" - asked S. P. Korolev. There was a second confusion in the group of pilots. Gagarin's high voice cut through the silence: "Me!" To the surprise of the Chief Designer, Yuri took off his shoes and, like a peasant who respects the work of the hostess, confidently entered his future space house. “Here he will be the first to fly,” S. P. Korolev understood. The prophecy of the brilliant designer came true.
War of ideologies and technical problems
It was impossible to cancel the deadly experiment under the slogan “Catch up and overtake the Americans”. NS Khrushchev, overwhelmed by the idea of "bury America", did not tolerate any objections. The policy of the USSR became more and more ideologized, reports on achievements by significant dates were often more important than the achievements themselves. The launch of the first artificial Earth satellite in 1957 marked the beginning of an unprecedented space race. A country where the main producer in agriculture was still the peasant household was forced to put everything on the cosmic map.
When intelligence reported that already on April 20, 1961, the United States was ready to launch its astronaut into space, Khrushchev called the Chief Designer: "Your window for launching a man into space on April 11-17." SP Korolev, whose name was kept in the strictest confidence for a long time, did not dare to contradict the master of the country. An accelerated, if not an emergency, preparation for a manned space flight began, and on April 12, 1961, the Earth for the first time became empty without Air Force Senior Lieutenant Yu. A. Gagarin for as many as 108 minutes.
But before that there were not minutes, but hours of pre-launch waiting. At the last moment, problems were discovered, the technicians tried to fix them. Whatever it was, it was no longer possible to cancel the flight. The victory of not only the military depended on the success of the first launch - it was about the superiority of socialist ideology over the hostile imperialist world. All that was left was to wait and hope. The degree of stress is hard to imagine. Three TASS messages were prepared in advance: in case of the death of an astronaut, with a request for help when landing outside the USSR, and a triumphant declaration of the victory of the new social system.
Let's sing tonight
Yu. A. Gagarin stoically stood the test of expectation. The instruments recorded the normal pressure and pulse of the first cosmonaut. An increase in heart rate up to 150 was observed only at the moment of full rise. And before that, in the painful hours of assembling a faulty manhole cover, Yuri Alekseevich found the strength to cheer his comrades: "Pasha, look, is my heart beating?" “It beats, it beats,” assured P. R. Popovich. Pavel Romanovich recalled that before the start, Gagarin asked to turn on the music, and he sang the ideologically unrestrained "Lilies of the Valley", which the team of pilots had long altered in their own way: "Let's climb into the reeds, we hope from the heart, and why do we need these lilies of the valley …" Gagarin's negotiations with the Earth mysterious reeds:
Korolev: Found a sequel to "Lilies of the Valley", okay?
Gagarin laughs.
Gagarin: Understood, understood. In the reeds?
Korolyov: Let's sing tonight.
It was all a joke. No one has ever seen Yu. A. Gagarin drunk. After returning to earth, Gagarin's life changed dramatically, he was obliged to constantly represent at various levels and the problem of the need to drink alcohol really did exist. Then in Gus-Khrustalny Gagarin made a special glass of 20 grams, which looked much larger due to its thickness and which he skillfully used if it was impossible not to drink.
And then, before the start, the Earth, as best she could, supported her messenger to the Universe. SP Korolev decided to discuss the space menu with Gagarin. Despite the fact that the estimated flight duration was less than two hours, the astronaut had to eat in orbit. Not too tasty, but very high-calorie pates and jams, Gagarin had.
Korolyov: There, in the packing of the tuba - lunch, dinner and breakfast.
Gagarin: I see.
Korolev: Got it?
Gagarin: Got it.
Korolev: Sausage, dragees and jam for tea.
Gagarin: Yeah.
Korolev: Got it?
Gagarin: Got it.
Korolyov: Here.
Gagarin: Got it.
Korolev: 63 pieces, you'll be fat.
Gagarin: Ho ho.
Normal flight between life and death
The spacecraft, piloted by Yu. A. Gagarin, took off at 09.07, and at 09.15 there was a loss of communication. Minutes of complete ignorance lasted forever, the Queen's hands trembled, his face was cramped. It could all be over at any moment. But already at 9.20 am Gagarin's calm voice announced: "The flight is normal."
During the flight, serious problems were discovered. On takeoff, the spacecraft almost went into a higher orbit, the return from which could take 50 days, for ten minutes the spacecraft spun at a speed of one revolution per second, the descent vehicle did not want to separate, the landing system worked late. For six minutes Yu. A. Gagarin was without oxygen, literally between life and death, the breathing valve did not open. Gagarin then did not inform the Earth about anything of this. I didn't want to frighten my comrades. Instead of this -
Gagarin: I understand you. The state of health is excellent, I continue the flight, the overloads are growing. Things are good.
Zarya-1, I am Cedar. I feel good. Vibration and overload are normal. We continue the flight, everything is fine. Welcome.
I don't feel it, I observe some rotation of the ship around its axes. Now the Earth has left the "Gaze" porthole. The state of health is excellent.
The trained body of the pilot was ready for tenfold overloads. Nobody could calculate the psychological load and the unconscious response to it. Suffice it to say that there was a hidden key and a complex code in the cockpit for transferring the ship to manual control. It could be used only in an adequate state of mind. This was done on purpose so that the astronaut, who had gone mad with fear, would not put the ship into manual control. And there were reasons to go crazy: the walls of the ship melted from the colossal overheating, molten metal flowed through the windows, the skin literally cracked like a dry nut. What about Gagarin?
Gagarin: Zarya, I am Cedar. I see clouds above the ground, small, cumulus. And the shadows from them. Beautiful, beauty. How do you hear, welcome?
Korolev: "Cedar", I am "Zarya", "Cedar", I am "Zarya". We hear you perfectly. Continue the flight.
Gagarin: The flight continues well. Overloads grow slowly, insignificantly. Everything is well tolerated. Vibrations are small. The state of health is excellent.
The impression that he is flying not in an experimental hastily assembled unit, but in a comfortable aircraft of the latest generation, now they will bring coffee and you can indulge in contemplation …
I hope you never see this letter …
Perhaps the fearless Gagarin was simply not aware of the danger? Didn't understand that he was going to certain death? I realized and understood, therefore, in a clear mind and firm memory, two days before the start, I wrote a farewell letter to my beloved wife Valentina:
“So far I have lived honestly, truthfully, for the benefit of people, although it was small. Once, in my childhood, I read the words of V. P. Chkalov: "If there is, then be the first." So I try to be and will be to the end. I want, Valechka, to devote this flight to the people of the new society, communism, into which we are already entering, to our great Motherland, to our science.
I hope that in a few days we will be together again, we will be happy.
Valya, please, do not forget my parents, if there is an opportunity, then help with something. Give them my best regards, and let them forgive me for not knowing anything about it, but they were not supposed to know."
I wrote it and hid it away, if something happens, they will find it. Gagarin immediately forgot about the letter as a momentary weakness. Valentina Ivanovna Gagarina will read it only seven years later, on March 27, 1968, when her first and only man tragically died in an inexplicable plane crash near the village of Novoselovo.
Mother! Their!!!
In the meantime, having overcome all the hardships of flight and landing, almost suffocating and almost drowning in the icy Volga water, the first cosmonaut of the Earth walks across the dug up potato field following the fleeing and finely baptized grandmother. Realizing what a monster he looks like in an orange spacesuit, now Major Gagarin (he does not know this yet) is trying to shout through the helmet: “Mother! Their!!!"
They did not expect Gagarin here, they did not know that a man had flown into space - there was no radio or electricity in the village of Smelovka in the Engels district at that time. The old forester helped Gagarin take off his helmet and gave him milk to drink. The military soon arrived.
After the flight, Yuri Gagarin's life changed dramatically. Overnight, he became a world celebrity with all the ensuing consequences. It was necessary to represent in the country and abroad, constantly receive someone and be at receptions, speak speeches and listen to countless requests and vows in eternal friendship. Even with his family, Gagarin was rarely alone: reporters, filming, interviews.
Glory did not seem to concern him
VN Lebedev, psychologist of the first cosmonaut corps, recalls: “Many changed, became victims of star fever. Yuri, as he was, remained so. Glory did not seem to concern him. At times he had up to a dozen meetings a day. Tired, of course, tired. But he always went out to people with a smile. Nobody knew about his fatigue. The attention of the state security authorities to Gagarin was constant, but nothing stuck to him, it was impossible to put pressure on him, this was quickly realized at the top.
Star fever did not affect Gagarin for one reason - he was a star from birth, the first, out of ranking and out of competition. The star's lifestyle (real, and not what is often meant by it) was natural for Gagarin. The structure of the mental unconscious of such people is dominated by the urethral vector of the leader of the pack. The leader, by birthright, stands at the top of the hierarchy of the social structure or the systemic pack: he is either the first or not. At the training "System-vector psychology" by Yuri Burlan, an exhaustive description of such a psychotype is given: tactical thinking, not limited by laws and rules, courage, overcoming, mercy.
I wanted to touch him
The leader is responsible for his flock. His homeland, the USSR, became Gagarin's flock, and he was ready to risk his life for the sake of the continuation of this state in time and the expansion of the spaces he had conquered. The space walk was simultaneously a breakthrough into unknown spaces and into the future for the whole country, for all mankind. Gagarin's flight forever changed people's ideas about the world and about themselves. A new era has emerged - cosmic, global, when the world suddenly became available, and everyone is equally vulnerable. It was a breakthrough, the scale of which is no longer comparable to anything else.
“He entered this life like a knife in butter, and remained a normal guy,” recalls P. R. Popovich. Always smiling, natural, hospitable host with feasts on the highest level, Gagarin immediately attracted him. Women fell in love with him once and for all, men tried to be like him. The number of newborn Yurievs grew rapidly. The highest persons violated protocol. The Queen of Great Britain, contrary to strict rules of etiquette, tenderly hugged the astronaut. The attraction of his charm was irresistible. Gagarin's disarming smile became a new symbol of Russia - by this smile, and not by the actions of the general secretaries, all Russians were judged in those years. There was no end to enthusiastic letters from all over the world.
His "I" completely merged into "we". “We are peaceful people,” Gagarin said and smiled disarmingly. This made it uncomfortable for those to whom these words were actually addressed. We Russians are calm in a mortal battle, if anyone has forgotten in the years of peace. And nothing that we still have electricity not everywhere, we now see the Earth from all sides, as well as a given goal in any hemisphere. It was not said aloud, of course.
No flying
The most difficult thing in Yu. A. Gagarin's post-flight life was that he could not fly with the same intensity. Occupying the post of deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, instead of the prescribed 200 hours a year he “flew” at most 20. This was alarming. Gagarin was used to being ahead of everyone, he was always like that, and now it turned out that by managing the Training Center, he himself was losing his qualifications.
Gagarin graduated with honors from the Zhukovsky Academy. But time is sorely lacking for flight practice. He is not allowed into space either. After the tragic death of cosmonaut V. M. Komarov, whose backup was Gagarin, Yuri Alekseevich was strictly forbidden to fly. Deny the meaning of his life? An absurdity, no matter what "top" it comes from. It is clear that Gagarin is seeking flights.
"Today - fly!" -
this entry appeared in the diary of Yuri Gagarin on the morning of March 27, 1968. From the Chkalovsky airfield, he had to take off to carry out a mission on a combat MiG-15. Bends, planning, "barrel" - nothing out of the ordinary. Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Sergeevich Seregin was appointed instructor and flight director. Gagarin completed the flight mission ahead of schedule, reported to the ground and requested permission to return to the base. Permission was granted, but communication with the crew was suddenly cut off. When the crew had to run out of fuel in all terms, the search began. A burning forest and a crater were seen near the village of Novoselovo. The plane of Gagarin and Seregin crashed while trying to get out of the tailspin.
What caused the tragedy is still unclear. The crashed plane was assembled on the ground almost completely - up to 95% of dry weight, this is a unique phenomenon, but not a single version that could confidently explain what happened was developed. From the conclusion of the last study of the tragedy undertaken by SA Mikoyan, AA Leonov and others: “The emergency situation arose suddenly against the background of a calm flight, as evidenced by the remaining radio traffic. This situation was extremely fleeting. In the created situation, which was aggravated by bad weather conditions, the crew took all measures to get out of this state of emergency, but due to lack of time and height there was a collision with the ground."
Rules are not for everyone
A. A. Leonov recalls that during the last flight of Yu. A. Gagarin, he and a team of pilots trained nearby. "Ours are flying!" - Alexey Arkhipovich managed to say to his comrades, having heard the sound of the Gagarin MiG. Then there was an explosion of the transition of the sound barrier, and after a short time another explosion. Analyzing these facts, A. A. Leonov came to the conviction that in the immediate vicinity of the plane of Gagarin and Seregin there was another plane - a jet fighter Su-15, which violated the order. He created an indignant wave, falling into which, the MiG lost control and went into a tailspin. From the rapid decline, Gagarin and Seregin lost consciousness, and when they came to their senses and began to fight to get the plane out of the spin, it was too late.
A. A. Leonov never managed to find out who was at the helm of the fatal Su. The plane was, and who was in the cockpit is a mystery. The documents were destroyed, Leonov's statement to the investigation about two subsequent explosions that day was completely rewritten by an unknown person with distortion of the facts. The USSR knew how to keep secrets, especially if they concerned the "untouchables" - the top officials of the state and people close to them. The one who cheated at the steering wheel of Su, having carried out the inappropriate descent, apparently, was really needed by someone above.
The suppression of the causes of the tragedy led to a mass of rumors and speculation: from UFOs and planned sabotage to banal drunkenness of the crew members. It was even rumored that Gagarin committed suicide, as he was recruited by enemy intelligence and was afraid of exposure. All these fabrications are pure nonsense.
A systematic analysis of the personality of the first cosmonaut of the planet convincingly shows that such a person as Yuri Gagarin could not have had a suicidal complex, no fear, no double standards. High internal responsibility and dignity, awareness of oneself as a part of the country and the people would never have allowed Gagarin to be out of step. He could not eject from the doomed plane, his friend was unconscious nearby, Leonov's team jumped with a parachute below. Take the out of control car to a place where the inevitable disaster would not harm other people, and then try to overcome the force of gravity at a speed of about 700 km per hour. Impossible? No more than calmly saying, "Let's go!" - when he went outside the world.
People like Gagarin are rarely born and even less often live to old age. But every time such a person leaves, the Earth becomes empty, and people make up myths that he did not die, he could not really leave us …
