Jamie Doran - Starman - The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin

Travelling eastwards, ever eastwards, flying at eight kilometres per second, the dials indicated: 28,000 kmph, although Gagarin would not have experienced any sense of speed.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘The flight continues well. The machine is functioning normally. Reception excellent. Am carrying out observations of the earth. Visibility good. I can see the clouds. I can see everything. It’s beautiful!’

As Vostok swept over Siberia, less than twenty minutes after launch, its steeply tilted orbit carried it to the Arctic Circle, then over the north-eastern hemisphere and towards the North Pacific. At Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula, almost on the extreme east of the Soviet subcontinent, a remote radio monitoring station calculated Vostok’s speed and altitude from the incoming telemetry. This would be the final opportunity for accurate measurements before the less well-equipped sea-borne stations took over. Alexei Leonov had arrived at Petropavlovsk a day or two before Kamanin and the State Committee at Baikonur had made the final cosmonaut selection for the flight. As Leonov waited for Vostok’s signals, including the crude television picture from within its cabin, he had no idea which of his friends would be in there. ‘When Yuri flew, there wasn’t a central mission-control complex like the one we have today [at Kaliningrad, north-east of Moscow]. Therefore a number of cosmonauts, familiarized with all aspects of the mission, were disbursed among all the major radio listening posts around the Soviet Union, and as part of that operation I came to Petropavlovsk. I had a small television monitor, and when I saw the picture coming back from Vostok I didn’t know if it was Yuri or Gherman, but then I saw some body movements that were characteristic of Yuri. As soon as we made contact he heard my voice and said, “Hi, to the blond man!” That was his nickname for me.’

Petropavlovsk received the telemetry from Vostok, and the signals were laboriously keyed into a secure code, then relayed over ground links to Moscow, where Yuri Mazzhorin, Academician Keldysh and a squad of computer operators unscrambled the codes and fed the data into their gigantic machines.

Petropavlovsk’s window of opportunity for radio contact was very brief. Less than thirty minutes after launching into Baikonur’s early morning, Vostok swept over the Pacific, into the vast shadow of earth’s sleeping half. Down below, the Americans were asleep. Their night-shrouded continents, North and South, sped beneath the ship, and Gagarin would have noted them only as geographers’ rumours on his little navigation globe. Now, in this darkest realm, he could see the stars. They were sharp and bright, and did not flicker. There were more stars than he had ever seen from the ground, even on the clearest winter nights.

As its tilted orbit carried Vostok into the southern hemisphere, it sped over Cape Horn and across the South Atlantic. The ground controllers instructed Gagarin to make his switch settings for the re-entry procedure. He checked the ‘Vzor’ to confirm that the systems had aligned the ship correctly, with the retro-rockets pointing against the direction of travel and aimed above the horizon at a certain precise angle. But Gagarin did not have many switches to alter. It was more a question of telling the controllers on earth what the ship around him was doing of its own accord. As far as any published account shows, he never once touched the controls, or punched the three secret numbers into his keypad.

At 10.25 Moscow Time, seventy-nine minutes into the flight, Vostok’s retro-rockets began their deceleration burn precisely on time, just as the craft was sweeping over West Africa, firing for exactly forty seconds, then shutting down correctly. This was the last duty required of the equipment and retropack module behind the ball. The four metal wrap-around straps that held the ball in place were snapped apart by small explosive charges. Gagarin felt the ball twist violently as it came away.

The first phase of the de-orbit burn went according to plan. And in a quiet moment, while the automatic systems ran through their paces, Gagarin began to realize the enormity of what he had done.

I wondered, ‘What will people on earth say when they hear about my flight?’… I thought about my mother, and how when I was a child she used to kiss me between my shoulder blades before I went to sleep. Did she know where I was now? Had Valya told her about my flight? [3] Burchett & Purdy, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin , p. 143.

No, his family had not been prepared for the news, because of the secrecy that surrounded the whole mission. Gagarin had been allowed to inform Valya, but he misled her with a white lie, saying that he was going up on April 14, so that she would not worry on the real launch day.

Zoya was getting ready for her shift at the main hospital in Gzhatsk when the news exploded. ‘It was very difficult for us. We found it out from the radio. Yuri had told mother he was going on a business trip. When mother asked, “How far?” he said, “Very far”, so we didn’t know where he was going, or when.’ In fact, they had not intended to switch on the radio that morning. Zoya’s young son (another Yuri) was doing his homework and needed to concentrate. Anna was quietly cooking. As Zoya recalls, ‘Suddenly Valentin’s wife Maria came hurrying through the door, out of breath. “Yura!” she said. Mamma became very still. “Tell me, what is it – has he crashed?” And Maria said, “No, not yet.” Looking back, it was quite comical, although we were very worried. Maria finally explained, “He’s in space!” I lost my temper without thinking. “My God, he’s got two young daughters, how did he decide to do that? He must be crazy!” I said.’

But Anna remained perfectly calm. She reached for her coat. ‘I’ll go to see Valya in Moscow. She’ll be alone with the children.’

She was calm, but she wasn’t thinking straight, either. Of course she could not just walk out of the door and go to Moscow. She had to get herself to the railway station several kilometres away. Perhaps Valentin could organize a lift for her.

Then they turned on the radio.

Anna put on her quilted coat and best headscarf, then left to see about a train ticket. Zoya contacted her hospital and told them she felt too unwell to work. ‘A neighbour came into the house to sit with us, and we listened to the radio. The music with the news reports was cheerful, and we felt a little more at ease. Then the music stopped, and the announcer said that the name of Major Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was to be included in the Komsomol Central Committee Roll of Honour. “That’s what they do for dead people,” I thought.’

Much to Zoya’s relief, the TASS radio reports resumed their cheerful tone, and the music came on again, a patriotic march. The announcer said that Gagarin had landed safely. ‘It seemed like a huge rock had fallen off my shoulders,’ Zoya recalls.

Valentin Gagarin, who lived just next door, was strolling down the road towards work, after spending an hour’s lunch break at home, when he heard the news somewhat indirectly. Suddenly his little daughter Olya called after him, ‘Papa, come back quickly! Mamma’s crying!’

There was a flurry of shouting and rushing from one house to another. Yura was in space, and Anna needed someone to drive her to the station so that she could get to Moscow …

For Valentin, it was the parked trucks that made it seem real. He was working in the motor pool. When he reported to the office, he found something strange going on – or, rather, not going on. ‘All the trucks were lined up in readiness for their rounds, as usual. The doors of the maintenance shed were open, but none of the drivers were sitting in their cabs. Every engine was switched off. The managers waiting at the other end of the routes weren’t calling in to complain about their missing loads. But they always called… Nobody in the motor pool was moving. Valentin went to the foreman to see about some time off to take his mother to the station. My boss said, “Can’t you see? None of the drivers are working today because they’re all listening to the radio about your little brother in space.” So I asked: could I borrow a truck for an hour? In his excitement he yelled at the top of his voice, “Yes, take any truck you like. Take the nearest and go!” I climbed into a fuel tanker because it was the first vehicle I found with the keys still in the ignition.’