

Death of Yuri Gagarin demystified 40 years on - eplanit
http://rt.com/news/gagarin-death-truth-revealed-674/

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huhtenberg
For what it's worth, I first learned of Gagarin's death in mid-80s from my
grandmother who told me, plain and simple, that his plane was caught in a jet
wash of another plane. Perhaps it's good to have the cause formally
declassified, but it was already a common knowledge back in Soviet times.

~~~
mjn
Some version of the jet-wash explanation seems to have been made public in
1988. Here's a contemporary _New York Times_ summary of some February 1988
_Pravda_ articles: [http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/07/us/soviet-lifting-veil-
on-...](http://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/07/us/soviet-lifting-veil-on-death-of-
astronaut.html)

That report, which Leonov was a co-author of, identified the other plane as a
MiG-21, not a Su-15, but otherwise seems pretty similar to this account.

I'm not sure why RT here is reporting Leonov's updated version of events as if
it were just now made public, either. He published this version (involving the
low-flying Su-15 passing within 10-20 meters) at least as early as 2004, since
it appears in English in his co-written book _Two Sides of the Moon_
([http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312308663/ref=as_li_ss_tl?...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312308663/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0312308663&linkCode=as2&tag=kmjn-20)
; Chapter 8).

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tptacek
It's RT's M.O. to gin up controversy, isn't it?

~~~
glurgh
Leonov held a press conference and his claim is that he's had access to
additional documents that back his theory. Unfortunately the documents
themselves haven't been released so this mostly amounts to Leonov re-iterating
his position.

The story itself is covered widely by Russian media so while you're right
about RT in general, in this particular case, the RT thing is incidental.

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scottshea
I am glad to hear that more is coming out about his death. I think, slowly,
Yuri Gagarin's place in American history is being solidified. It would be
interesting to find out the process that Gagarin was chosen as the first man.
The politics and technical requirements must have been intense. And obviously
he had to distinguish himself.

~~~
k-mcgrady
I'm interested in your comment about his place in American history being
solidified. Could you expand? Is he not taught about in schools when space is
being taught?

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sejje
As a young American, I can say that I have no recollection of his name. I've
never been particularly interested in space exploration, but living in
Florida, we visited the Space Center, watched launches, etc. The names I know
are all American: Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, etc. The "programs" I know are
too: Apollo, Challenger, etc.

We were taught that the Russians made it to space before we did, and I think
that's about it before we moved on to American achievements. Perhaps I had a
nationalistic teacher.

~~~
mjn
I assume it varies by school/textbook, but while I agree the American space
program was covered with _much_ more emphasis, in my class we did learn about
Gagarin. The bits of Soviet space program we learned were basically: Sputnik,
first dog in space, Gagarin, Mir.

~~~
L4mppu
Do you mean German space program?

~~~
mjn
We also learned about the role played by German-Americans in the program, yes!
Von Braun is pretty much a household name.

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gesman
I worked in the city of Gagarin (his place of birth) and saw the memorial made
after him. I find quite a dark secret about this memorial that can only be
noticed from the certain angle at a certain distance. I should of made a
picture of it.

~~~
rangibaby
Would you care to elaborate?

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pravda
Useless triva here: there is a 'statue' of Yuri in Moscow. I always called it
the Rocketboy.

[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Yuri_Gaga...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Yuri_Gagarin_Monument.jpg)

~~~
guard-of-terra
Everybody seem to call it "batman".

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jnazario
yuri gagarin's life is the subject of the book "Starman: The Truth Behind the
Legend of Yuri Gagarin", it's pretty fascinating to watch him through his life
and ultimately become a tool of the state for propaganda purposes. his death
was largely caused by him ceasing his flying so much, a skill that dulls
unless used constantly.

[http://www.amazon.com/Starman-Truth-Behind-Legend-
Gagarin/dp...](http://www.amazon.com/Starman-Truth-Behind-Legend-
Gagarin/dp/0802779506)

~~~
lobster_johnson
Also looking forward to the new Russian biopic coming out soon, trailer looks
good (or at least expensive):
[http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/002381.html](http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum9/HTML/002381.html)
(could find a better link, but I'm on my phone, sorry).

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pavel_lishin
I wonder when we'll be able to buy it on DVD. I have a feeling I'm going to
end up having to get one of my relatives to ship it to me from Russia.

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akiselev
Oh don't worry it'll be on torrent trackers and usenet with full subtitles a
week or two before theatrical release. Full dubs a month or two after, if they
think it will be popular in Europe (which it might well be).

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userulluipeste
How come this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5880557](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5880557)

was ignored whereas the current one didn't? The same title, the same
link...?!!

