Yuri Gagarin as a cadet. Gagarin (1934-1968) was a cadet of the Orenburg Higher Military Aviation School, Russia. He later became a soviet cosmonaut and on 12 April 1961 made the first manned space flight. He orbited the Earth once in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, a flight that lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. Gagarin became a hero in the Soviet Union and famous worldwide. He later returned to active service as a test pilot, dying in a crash during a training flight in 1968. His ashes were interred with full military honours in the Kremlin Wall.
