“
It's fantastic!
You have to be swollen to get up there
”, exclaims a driver from the Bois de Boulogne interviewed by
Le Figaro
on April 12, 1961. The feat thus hailed is that of Yuri Gagarin, a young 27-year-old Russian pilot sent into orbit around earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes.
It is the first human manned flight in space in human history.
At that time, the conquest of space was making great strides against the backdrop of Russian-American rivalry and the Cold War.
The USSR scores points.
In 1957, the Soviet power launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik, and sent the dog Laika into space.
In 1961, it was a man's turn to board a vessel, the Vostok, to defy gravity.
Yuri Gagarin becomes the perfect Soviet hero dubbed by the authorities and acclaimed by the enthusiastic crowd.
Read also: 60 years after Yuri Gagarin, the blues of Russian cosmonauts
The Americans will take their revenge by sending a man to the moon eight years later.
In the meantime, this "
man in the cosmos
" is a "
historic date
This article is for subscribers only.
You have 84% left to discover.
Subscribe: 1 € the first month
Can be canceled at any time
I ENJOY IT
Already subscribed?
Log in