60 years ago, the first man flew into space. What do those who were there after him know about Yuri Gagarin? How do they see its place in history? Why for the German astronauts Gagarin remained little known for a long time?
Yuri Gagarin before the flight on April 12, 1961
Cosmonauts, astronauts, taikonauts – after the flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961, more than 500 people from different countries visited space. For 60 years, orbital flights have become a routine, and the glory of the first cosmonaut of the planet has gradually lost its former brilliance. Or not? DW talked about Gagarin and his role with German astronauts.
Gagarin in the shadow of Armstrong
“I did not know at all that Gagarin flew into space. It was kept secret, and only when he successfully returned was the big news reported to the public. I vaguely remember what my parents said about it,” recalls Gerhard Thiele ( Gerhard Thiele), one of more than ten German astronauts. Growing up in West Germany, Thiele, 67, says his interest in space was aroused by the space flights of US citizens who were “much more open” than the USSR. This happened in the mid-1960s, when the Americans began preparations for an expedition to the moon.
German astronaut Gerhard Thiele
“What happened in the Soviet Union was always learned later, there was very little information in Germany about it,” says Thiele, who flew into orbit in 2000 on the American shuttle Endeavor. According to him, at some time Gagarin came into his field of vision, but the world's first cosmonaut was never as noticeable to him as the American Neil Armstrong, who first set foot on the lunar surface.
Thiele's colleague Reinhold Ewald shared a similar experience. When Gagarin flew into space, Ewald was a little over four years old, and he does not remember anything about it, but Alexei Leonov's spacewalk in 1965 made an impression. “It was the moment when I first realized that there are two directions – the Americans, who were preparing to fly to the moon with their Apollo program, and the successes of Russian astronautics,” says Ewald, who also grew up in West Germany. According to him, there was little information in Germany not only about Soviet cosmonauts, which he connects with “Western ideology”, but also about the first German cosmonaut, who became a citizen of the GDR Siegmund Jehn in 1978.
In the GDR they knew more about Gagarin than in the FRG. In the former eastern lands, many streets are still named after him. Already in the early 1990s, it was Sigmund Yen who introduced Ewald to Gagarin's legacy in Star City near Moscow, where Ewald was preparing for a flight to the Mir space station. Its flight took place in 1997 on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
In the footsteps of the first cosmonaut in Star City
Ewald found the last years before the collapse of the USSR and still remembers what a depressing impression was made on him by the dilapidated facades of houses and empty store shelves in Moscow, who grew up in prosperity in the Federal Republic of Germany. “The nurses brought us their food from home to somehow improve our diet during a medical examination at a government clinic,” recalls the 64-year-old German astronaut.
Reinhold Ewald during preparation for a flight in Star City, 1997
He especially remembered the case when the employees of the Mission Control Center (MCC), who had not been paid their salaries for a long time, hung up a poster with the words “Our tasks are cosmic, our salary is comic.” “It was very impressive,” admits Ewald. He is sure that at that difficult time the Russian cosmonautics was saved by the enthusiasm of the staff, who saw themselves as the successors of Gagarin's work.
Gerhard Thiele also received training at Star City, however, later – in 2003 he was preparing to be a backup for a Dutch astronaut. There the German encountered the carefully preserved memory of Gagarin. “The first thing that comes to my mind is that sport is of great importance, especially in Russian cosmonautics, it was very closely followed there,” Thiele recalls. “In the locker room, my locker was right opposite Yuri Gagarin’s locker. His things and sports equipment were preserved there. only the door was replaced with a transparent one made of plexiglass. Every time I sat down, I looked at Gagarin's locker. It was a special feeling to know that you are in the same room, step on the same tiles as Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space. It was a special moment. ”
Matthias Maurer at the European Astronaut Training Center, 2019
And what does the new generation think of Gagarin? Matthias Maurer, one of two now active German astronauts, is now completing preparations for his maiden flight into space. If all goes according to plan, he will travel to the ISS in the fall of 2021 on the American SpaceX Dragon. “In preparation, I think about how I will behave if something goes wrong. Fortunately, I can benefit from the experience of the more than 500 people who have been in space before me,” said 51-year-old Maurer. Gagarin did not have such an opportunity. ” According to him, the closer the start, the “more respect” he has for Gagarin's achievement.
Maurer got acquainted with the biography of the first cosmonaut of the planet when he studied Russian for future work on the ISS. He says that apart from the legendary “Let's Go!” he remembered Gagarin's stories about the flight itself and about landing – by parachute in the middle of the field.
How Gagarin surprised the Germans
German astronauts assure that 60 years later, Gagarin's fame has not faded for them. “He is definitely a hero,” emphasizes Matthias Maurer. He and his colleagues are especially impressed by the conditions and on what technique the first manned flight into space was made. “When I began to take an interest in Gagarin, he had already landed safely, but I thought about Christopher Columbus,” adds Gerhard Thiele.
According to him, it was “courageous” and “almost frivolous, the technique was then at such a level that everything could end in disaster.” Thiele recalls that during Gagarin's return to Earth, “the instrument-engine compartment did not separate from the ship, which, as a result, rotated on the verge of permissible, and only when the cables burned out, the descent vehicle was able to take the correct position.”
Also, German astronauts are amazed by the fact that Gagarin landed not in the descent vehicle, but ejected. Gerhard Thiele says that for him “Neil Armstrong and Yuri Gagarin are two great space explorers who will never be forgotten.” The bust of the planet's first cosmonaut was installed at the European Astronaut Training Center in Cologne. “This is to show that the first man in space was Yuri Gagarin. It will remain forever,” concluded Matthias Maurer.
See also:
Baikonur cosmodrome through the eyes of astronaut Thomas Reiter, who also flew to the station
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