Gagarin's Grounded MIG - 15
It appears that at some stage after the Soyuz I accident, Gagarin lost his flight status. According to one Western report, he was involved in a car crash which resulted in the scar seen over one eye. Alternatively, he may simply have been grounded following Vostok I, it being considered that he was too valuable to risk. Whatever the reason, it seems that he had to regain his flight status, and he began flying under supervision in early March 1968, after passing a medical examination on 12 March.
Uncharacteristically, Gagarin asked to be relieved of all other duties, and made his first flight on 13 March in a two-seater fighter. It was said that his break from flying did not seem to have affected his piloting abilities. He flew again on 19 and 20 March, and this was said to be 'a further step towards flying solo.'
About Gagarin's death she had these words. (Trans. from the Russian)."Forgiveness.
Let's see. Before Gagarin's death I had been reading Platonov.
'Fro' or 'The Foundation Pit', some other piece? Anyways, it was Platonov. Gagarin had been in a strange mood, the space
program, them not letting him be the first moon man or no, it was something
else, me. There are things I can't reveal. Perhaps there are things better
to suffer with to the grave. At any rate, I shouldn't have said it but I
did. I said, referring to the Platonov who at
that time nobody read. I said, "He suffered for the people and you,
how do you know suffering? At that time, I was speaking about something
completely different, trying as women are able, to justify ourselves."
On 22 March Gagarin flew again, and his trainer Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Ustenko 'knew that Gagarin would soon be allowed to make a solo flight, and therefore checked his flying technique and landing with special care.
On 23 March, General Kamanin, discussing Gagarin's training programme, said 'It's a very fast pace, Yuri,' evidently worried that Gagarin was overworking. However, he did not try to dissuade Gagarin from flying, and consequently from training for another spaceflight. In his opinion, he should never have stopped flying.
On 27 March 1968, at 10.19 AM, he and Colonel Vladimir Seryogin took off from the airfield adjoining Star Town for another routine flight in a two-seat MiG 15. Several minutes later, the two men requested permission to alter course, and this was granted. Nothing more was heard from them. With mounting alarm, it was decided to send out search planes, and they found the MiG's smoking wreckage approximately 30 miles (48.3 km) East of Moscow. The plane's chronometer had stopped at 10.31. Was Gagarin inebriated from the moment of take-off as some stories suggest, not even getting the plane off the ground before a disastrous crash.
Gagarin's ashes would have been buried in the Kremlin, but, it was revealed in 1984, his body was never found. In his honour, the Soviets named one of the space tracking vessels 'Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.'
His death was a terrible blow to the Soviet space programme, coming as it did less than a year after the death of Komarov. He had been an extremely able and popular man, deeply respected by his colleagues. They had described him as 'a man of principles, decisive, bold, steadfast.' He had a straightforward and frank personality, a warm smile quick wit.' He was also very good at putting people at their ease in his presence. Nikolai Kamanin once said 'He was lively, had a winning personality and was a good mixer.
The fellow astronauts look distracted.
Compare the picture above with this KGB archive photograph below. Albeit with noticeable weight gain and somewhat melancholy expression, Gagarin is present! While the above photograph has been retouched, there can be no doubt that the photograph is the same one. If this is so, this photo is the last before Yuri Gagarin's mysterious death.
Yuri Gagarin had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Those who met him reported that he was an unassuming and pleasant man who seemed quite unaffected by the publicity that his exploits had brought him.
His contribution to manned spaceflight was great. He flew into unknowns, where no man had been and in doing so, opened the road to the stars. His name will live forever in the annals of manned spaceflight. (Vichnaya Pamyat)
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