As of this writing 530 people have traveled in space. The first of these flew for the first time 52 years ago today, and you can read more about him here:
Yuri Gagarin
One of the interesting things about Yuri Gagarin was the relative ordinariness of his life until he boarded the Vostok 1 capsule in 1961. He studied tractors in vocational school, was recommended for pilot training after being drafted into the Red Army, and was selected among the first group of novice Air Force pilots groomed for spaceflight by Sergei Korolyov, the Soviet space program's chief designer. The narratives of exploration are filled with people who doggedly and often bone-headedly followed the call of the wild in the face of opposition. Columbus, Amundsen, the Wrights, Goddard, Mallory, and Lindbergh all pursued their targets as solo ventures, or by campaigning vigorously for support. By contrast, Gagarin was chosen by the big Soviet machine to be first. He no more campaigned for his part in the drama than he campaigned to become premier of the Soviet Union.
This is not to speak ill of his skills as a pilot, cosmonaut, or explorer in any way. The story of Gagarin and his selection to fly Vostok 1 just shows how much the technological game changed during the last century. Technological development has always been a collaborative enterprise, but this is more true now than ever before. One way or another, Gagarin was a good personified symbol of the progress humanity's made in recent times, and it's a shame that his life ended far too young on a training flight just seven years after his historic first step into the cosmos. Were he around today, I cant imagine a better ambassador for spaceflight's place in the public consciousness.
Happy Yuri's Night, everybody, and poyekhali!
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