Kremlin Vetoes Gagarin Inquiry

[rynner2]

Kremlin vetoes new inquiry into mystery death of Yuri Gagarin
By Andrew Osborn in Moscow
Published: 12 April 2007

The Kremlin has vetoed a move to launch a fresh investigation into the death of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, despite aviation specialists' belief that they have unravelled one of the 20th century's greatest enigmas.

The rebuff comes as Russians celebrate Cosmonauts' Day today, the anniversary of Gagarin's historic flight around the Earth on 12 April 1961. That foray, which lasted just 68 minutes, was a milestone in the space race between the Soviet Union and the US. But Gagarin was destined to a short, controversial life.

On 27 March 1968, Gagarin died in a mysterious plane crash while on a routine training mission in a MiG-15 with his flight instructor, Vladimir Serugin, just outside Moscow.

The results of the official investigation that followed were hypothetical and did not explain exactly what happened and why.

Investigators were only able to conclude that "the most probable cause" of his death was a sudden in-flight manoeuvre that sent the MiG into a nosedive from which it was impossible to recover.

They suggested that the pilots had been forced to swerve sharply to avoid a collision with a weather balloon or to avoid cloud cover.

The vague nature of the commission's findings led some experts to question Gagarin's competence as a pilot and created an information vacuum that has since spawned endless conspiracy theories.

One of the most insulting has the two men drunk on vodka, and losing control of the plane. Gagarin found fame hard to deal with after his return from space, it is argued, and had become a heavy drinker.

Other theories have been no less far-fetched: that he was abducted by aliens, that he survived the crash and died in a Soviet psychiatric ward in 1990, that Serugin killed them both because he was jealous of Gagarin, or that Gagarin staged his own death, had plastic surgery and disappeared.

There have also been suggestions that the "accident" was arranged by the Soviet leader at the time, Leonid Brezhnev, who apparently felt threatened by Gagarin's fame and was embarrassed by his alcohol-fuelled philandering.

But Igor Kuznetsov, an aviation engineer involved in the 1968 investigation, thinks that he and his colleagues have solved the enigma after conducting their own investigation using modern methodology.

In an interview with The Independent, he said he was convinced that Gagarin and Serugin died in a tragic accident and argued that the doomed plane's final movements differed radically from what had previously been thought.

According to the experts' version, the cockpit was not hermetically sealed because of a partially open ventilation panel, which forced the pilots urgently to reduce their altitude as an emergency measure.

The fact that the panel was open was not suspicious or the result of human error, he insists, but was nevertheless the reason why the two men died.

In the process of reducing their altitude at a rate of 145 metres per second, a speed that was then considered acceptable but which has since been shown to be dangerous, the two men passed out altogether before the plane crashed into the ground.

Mr Kuznetsov and 30 other eminent experts have petitioned President Vladimir Putin to sanction a new investigation into the incident, based on their findings.

But the Kremlin has said it does not believe the experts' theory and sees no grounds to question the original findings.

"What original findings are they talking about? There were no original findings, just speculation," says Mr Kuznetsov.

"Unfortunately there are people who do not want to know the truth, people who have been saying the same thing about how Gagarin died for almost 40 years and can't face admitting that they have been wrong."

Yet if his findings were confirmed during a second official investigation, Mr Kuznetsov says it would put an end to the conspiracy theories that have dogged Gagarin's name once and for all.

"But for as long as this vacuum exists, people can say whatever they like and insult the pilots and by association the now-defunct USSR."

The world's first space hero

* Yuri Gagarin was born in Klushino, near the town of Gzhatsk, 150 miles north-east of Smolensk, on 9 March 1934.

* His parents were workers on a collective farm, but they were reportedly well educated. Gagarin began an apprenticeship as a foundry man in a metalworks. He took night classes at technical school, learnt to fly, entering a military pilot school in 1955.

* Gagarin was 5ft 2ins tall, which gave him an advantage in the cramped cockpits of fighter jets.

* On 12 April 1961, Gagarin became a Soviet national hero and global icon after simultaneously becoming the first man in space and the first to orbit earth.

* On 27 March 1968, Gagarin died in a crash while on a routine training flight. Following his deadh, the town of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin.

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2442011.ece

 

[Xanatico]

When his plane crashed he made a path through a bunch of trees. Apparently they trim the trees in the area to maintain that path he created.

 

[EnolaGaia]

I don't know about the 'preserve the path' aspect, but a photo of the crash site memorial can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gaga ... morial.jpg

 

[ramonmercado]

Gagarin space drama based on secret Soviet archive hits Russian theaters
http://rt.com/news/gagarin-space-drama-archive-212/

A blockbuster Russian drama about the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin, has hit the big screen. The $7 million film is more factual than fictional, based on recently released secret archive material on the legendary Soviet cosmonaut.

The film first premiered in Moscow on April 12 and was screened at the UN’s Vienna International Center, and is now hitting Russian wide screens.

According to the film’s crew, ‘Gagarin: The First in Space’ tells the story of the race to be the first to put a human in space – the Cold War confrontation between the two superpowers, the USSR and US. Film producer and co-writer Oleg Kapanets, who has worked in Hollywood since 1992, said that the complicated project took six years of hard work.

“A lot of books have been written about Yuri Gagarin, so we took our time rereading numerous documentary accounts and autobiographical materials about him,” he said at a Moscow press conference for the film. “We wanted to pick up some extraordinary moments of his life and piece them together. The challenge was to translate the material into the language of film to appeal to audiences. In the long run we chose the main theme of the film to be the flight itself and the man behind it.”

image from http://www.kinopoisk.ru

Kapanets also explained how troves of material from secret Russian archives were revealed for the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight: “This is how we’ve discovered several sketches of the rockets and of the capsule that we later recreated in our film in accordance with the released data.”

In 1960 fighter pilot Gagarin was shortlisted for the Vostok 1 program built on the success of Sputnik 1. Yuri's closest rival for selection was German Titov. The promising cosmonauts did their best to impress their space program director Sergey Korolev.

The film producer said they had also worked with a number of space experts and turned for advice to the legendary cosmonauts from the first cosmonaut team, such as Aleksey Leonov and Boris Volynovm during the shooting. “We tested facts from books and witness accounts on them,” Kapanets explained.

Vadim Michman – the actor playing the second man in space, Titov – said he could not imagine what the Russian cosmonauts felt when they first went into space: “What they did to fly into space, and how they did it... Not everyone can even come to think of it.”

After his historic flight, Gagarin became a worldwide celebrity and was never far from the spotlight. He visited several countries and was pictured with film celebrities and stars like Gina Lollobrigida, or political leaders like Fidel Castro and Che Gevara, but never forgot about his childhood friends and family. Those who knew him personally said that even after he had “skyrocketed” into fame, stardom meant nothing to the first man to orbit the earth.

Gagarin tragically died in a military training flight on March 27, 1968, at 34 years of age. “A separate movie about Gagarin’s death could be made. There’s yet a lot to discover,” Kapanets said.

Kapanets added that the release of ‘Gagarin: The First in Space’ is well-timed to help close a widening generation gap: “If children fail to know who Gagarin is, we’ll lose ourselves as a nation.”

image from http://www.kinopoisk.ru

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted off in a Vostok rocket, becoming the first human in space and orbiting Earth for 108 minutes. Over 50 years after the legendary voyage, Gagarin’s courage continues to serve as a role model and source of inspiration for space explorers across the world. In 2011, the UN deemed April 12 the International Day of Human Space Flight.

For decades, Russia’s space program has been primarily oriented towards manned space flights, which comprise 58 percent of the space budget. Russia must “keep the leader’s experience of the manned flights and catch up in other space exploration programs,” President Vladimir Putin said in April of this year.

By 2020, the Russian government plans to allocate up to $52 billion for the national space industry. And by 2030, the turnover of the space industry globally could grow fivefold, reaching $1.5 trillion from its current $300-400 billion.

 

[Yithian]

I don't know about the 'preserve the path' aspect, but a photo of the crash site memorial can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Gaga ... morial.jpg

Afraid not.

 

[ramonmercado]

Yuri Gagarin air crash details emerge

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22940068
Gagarin's death has been surrounded by vigorous speculation down the years

New details have emerged about the air crash on 27 March 1968 that killed Yuri Gagarin - the first man in space.

Fellow cosmonaut Alexey Leonov claims an "unauthorised" plane flew too close to Gagarin's fighter jet, sending it into a spin.

Gagarin and his flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died when their MiG-15 went down near the town of Novoselovo, about 90km from Moscow.

Secrecy surrounding the crash has led to vigorous speculation down the years.

A government investigation of the accident (which Mr Leonov was part of) concluded that the MiG tried to avoid a "foreign object" - such as geese, or a hot air balloon.

On the conclusions of this original investigation, Mr Leonov said: "That conclusion is believable to a civilian - not to a professional."

In an interview with Russia Today, the cosmonaut - who, in 1965, became the first person to walk in space - claimed he had been permitted to share a declassified report showing that a Sukhoi fighter jet flew too close to Gagarin's MiG, disrupting its flight.


Mr Leonov had previously hinted at the "other jet" theory in his book
"We knew that a Su-15 was scheduled to be tested that day, but it was supposed to be flying at the altitude of 10,000 metres or higher, not 450-500 metres. It was a violation of the flight procedure," he told the television channel.

He says Gagarin's plane went into a spiral at 750km/h following the close pass by the jet.

However, Mr Leonov declined to name the Sukhoi pilot.

"My guess would be that one of the reasons for covering up the truth was to hide the fact that there was such a lapse so close to Moscow," he explained.

The cosmonaut had already hinted in his 2004 book Two Sides of the Moon that a Sukhoi jet may have been flying below its minimum allowed altitude. Leonov had been flying a helicopter in the same area on the day of the accident and heard "two loud booms in the distance".

Many other theories have been advanced in the ensuing years, including one that a cabin air vent was accidentally left open in Gagarin's aircraft by the previous pilot. This, the theory claims, would have led to oxygen deprivation for the crew.

Mr Gagarin became the first person to journey into space on 12 April 1961, when his Vostok spacecraft completed a single orbit of Earth.

 

[ramonmercado]

Further indignities with a pinhead statue of Gagarin.

A tribute to the first man in space recently unveiled in the Serbian capital Belgrade has caused dismay because of its seemingly ridiculous proportions, it's been reported.

The bust of Yuri Gagarin was ordered by the city council last year, and was put up on a street that bears his name, the Blic news website reports.

But its appearance - a tiny bust on top of a tall plinth - has been met by a hugely negative reaction, the paper says.

"The only way you can see it clearly is to launch yourself into the sky," the Noizz website says. "While this is somewhat symbolic," adds writer Ivana Stojanov, "there's certainly no common sense on show".

One of the first to notice something wasn't quite right was the Belgrade-based @Cenzura Twitter account, which posted a photo along with the simple caption "Oh no". ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-43701570

 

[Ermintruder]

Yes, he does look as if he's sunk into a plinth of quicksand.

Whereas, conversely.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Yuri_Gagarin

Monument to Yuri Gagarin is a 42.5-meter high pedestal and statue of Yuri Gagarin, the first person to travel in space. It is located at Leninsky Prospekt in Moscow. The pedestal is designed to be reminiscent of a rocket exhaust. The statue is made of titanium, a metal often used in spacecraft, and weighs 12 tons.

(And as if the biggest titanium statue in the world were not enough, we have also, this hitherto-unknown (to me) offering as well...at Greenwich in the UK)

The Statue of Yuri Gagarin in Greenwich, London, is a zinc statue depicting the cosmonaut wearing a spacesuit and standing on top of a globe. The figure was originally unveiled on 14 July 2011 at a temporary location in the Mall, close to Admiralty Archand facing the statue of Captain James Cook. It was later moved to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, at a site overlooking the Prime Meridian line, and was unveiled at the new location on 7 March 2013.

And since this thread is meant to be centred around conspiracies, rather than cosmonaut statues...

There had been an unsuccessful proposal to move it (the Greenwich Gagarin to Manchester.

Thankfully this was down to a communist plot a left-wing UK workers union interpretation of his probable preference for gritty Manchester over capitalist London.

I sometimes feel FTMB can be a little too pedestrian, and slightly too reverential.

Therefore, in the spirit of radical Fortean fundamentalism, may I throw-in a few spinballs (I'm going to, anyway).

Presumably forum members are aware that many at the time of his first-ever man-in-space mission (led, unsurprisingly, by western news agencies) made numerous claims that his spaceflight/orbit was itself a complete hoax.

Apparently (and I believe this is uncontested) he jumped by parachute seperate from the return capsule, which landed on the ground empty. I find this to be an extremely-odd aspect of his flight: from every perspective.

Pictures exist (identical in almost all respects, immediately post-mission) of Gagarin, wearing a white space-helmet with the letters 'CCCP', and without those letters. Apparently (allegedly) they were "painted on afterwards". Whether that was as he hung from his parachute, or in the photographer's darkroom....well, who knows. But I want to know, too.

However, at least we can say in total confidence that the governments of the world, at the height of the Cold War (fought through the proxy of the space race) never falsified a single fact/statistic/photograph/claim or element.

Why can we be so certain of this indisputable collection of absolutes? Well: because to do otherwise, would be to challenge the accepted orthodoxies of human society, despite that being for the purposes of rigour and a pursuit of fundamental accuracies of understanding in all matters.

I stand by to be lambasted / pilloried and miscalled for daring to question that which cannot ever be questioned: but...fundamentally I feel that is really why we are all here. Not just on this forum: I mean existentially, as well.

 

[EnolaGaia]

... Pictures exist (identical in almost all respects, immediately post-mission) of Gagarin, wearing a white space-helmet with the letters 'CCCP', and without those letters. Apparently (allegedly) they were "painted on afterwards". Whether that was as he hung from his parachute, or in the photographer's darkroom....well, who knows. But I want to know, too. ...

The photos without the lettering were early photos taken before Gagarin went to the launch site. The letters were added prior to the mission:

The letters "CCCP" were hand-painted onto Gagarin's helmet by engineer Sergeevich Lebedev during transfer to the launch site. As it had been less than a year since U2 pilot Gary Powers was shot down, Lebedev reasoned that without some country identification, there was a small chance the cosmonaut might be mistaken for a spy on landing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vostok_1

The Russian webpage (with photos) that's cited as the source for this Wikipedia claim is:

https://pikabu.ru/story/otkuda_vzyalas_nadpis_sssr_na_shleme_gagarina_4193397

 

[EnolaGaia]

... Apparently (and I believe this is uncontested) he jumped by parachute seperate from the return capsule, which landed on the ground empty. I find this to be an extremely-odd aspect of his flight: from every perspective. ...

The Vostok capsules used for the earliest Soviet spaceflights were equipped with ejection seats, and the cosmonaut was intended to eject at an altitude of circa 7 km - prior to the capsule's own parachute deploying.

One big reason for pre-landing ejection was simply that the Soviets landed their spacecraft on land, so there were obvious concerns about impact / injuries. The Vostok crew module was a big, heavy metal sphere, so it was prone to hit the ground and bounce one or more times before coming to rest.

Another reason for the ejection seat was that it served double duty as the Vostok capsule's launch-phase emergency escape mechanism. The US Mercury capsules had a specialized launch escape system (the tower frame atop the launch vehicle) that would separate the entire capsule from the rocket if necessary. This was discarded after a certain point in a successful launch. Vostok pilots could only 'bail out' in the old-fashioned aviator sense.

 

[ramonmercado]

And it's gone!

Belgrade's tribute to the first man in space has been removed after less than a week, following an outcry over the size of its head.

The bust of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, erected on the street which bears his name in the Serbian capital, was removed by workmen on Tuesday, B92 news website reports.

Locals said that the tribute, placed next to a branch of McDonald's and facing a shopping centre, was an "insult" to the man who orbited the Earth on 12 April 1961. It featured a tiny bust of Gagarin on top of a tall plinth, which led to complaints that the statue was out of proportion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-43737372

 

[Mythopoeika]

That bust was reasonably well-sculpted. Maybe they'll commission the artist to mount it on a body?

 

[ramonmercado]

That bust was reasonably well-sculpted. Maybe they'll commission the artist to mount it on a body?

Or on an appropriately sized plinth.

 

[Ermintruder]

I cautiously make an alternative suggestion. Leave it exactly as it is.

Gagarin appears to be a study of already widespread sculptural effort...here's the third, massive (fully-sized) statue in his honour

JSC2014-E-025526 (9 March 2014) --- The statue of Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to fly in space, looms over the town square in Karaganda, Kazakhstan March 9 as officials prepared to commemorate him on his 80th birthday.

And a fourth...in Varna, Bulgaria.

He appears to have been immortalised in stone already, in numerous locations around the globe.

 

[GNC]

Any Laika statues? At least Yuri returned.

 

[Ermintruder]

Unlucky Laika....

https://gizmodo.com/379162/soviet-dog-cooked-in-space-only-got-this-lousy-statue

 

[GNC]

Thanks. Poor wee soul wouldn't have had a clue what was going on, and no use for a statue, but got one anyway.

 

[cycleboy2]

I cautiously make an alternative suggestion. Leave it exactly as it is.

Gagarin appears to be a study of already widespread sculptural effort...here's the third, massive (fully-sized) statue in his honour

And a fourth...in Varna, Bulgaria.

He appears to have been immortalised in stone already, in numerous locations around the globe.

Nope, the top one is Joe 90 without the specs, while the bottom one bears scant resemblance to pictures of Gagarin, who was a mere 5ft 2in or so in real life; bigger in the statues...