Yuri Gagarin

Hello. My name is Yuri Gagarin, and I want to tell you my story. It’s a story about becoming the first person to ever travel into outer space. But long before I saw the stars up close, I was just a little boy with a very big dream. I was born on March 9th, 1934, in a small village in a country called Russia. My mom and dad worked hard on a farm, and I had fun playing with my brothers and sister. My favorite thing to do, though, was to lie in the grass and look up at the big, blue sky. Sometimes, an airplane would fly high above, its engine a soft buzz in the distance. I would stop everything I was doing just to watch it soar like a magnificent silver bird. I imagined being the pilot, high above the world, looking down at the tiny houses and fields. 'One day,' I whispered to myself, 'I'm going to fly just like that.' That tiny whisper was a big dream, a dream that would take me higher than I could ever have imagined.

My dream of flying didn't just stay a dream. When I got older, I knew I had to work hard to make it happen. I went to a special school to learn all about tractors and machines, which was very interesting, but I still had my eyes on the sky. Soon, I got my chance. I joined a flying club after school. I remember my heart beating like a drum the first time I sat in the cockpit of a real airplane. My teacher showed me all the buttons and levers, and then, we took off. The feeling was incredible. The ground got smaller and smaller, and I was finally flying, just like the birds I used to watch. I loved it so much that I decided to become a military pilot, flying fast jet planes for my country. It was a very important job. I worked very hard and became a good pilot, but I always wondered what was beyond the blue sky. One day, I heard some very exciting news. My country was starting a top-secret program to send a person into space, somewhere no one had ever been before. When I heard that, my heart leaped. This was more than just flying; this was a chance to see our world from above and fly among the stars. I knew right away, 'I have to be a part of this.' It was the biggest dream of all.

Wanting to go to space and actually going are two very different things. The training was the hardest thing I had ever done. There were many other brave pilots who wanted to go, too. We had to study, exercise, and practice in special machines that spun us around to get us ready for spaceflight. It was tough, but I never gave up because I kept thinking about my dream. Then, the big day came when my boss, a smart man named Sergei Korolev, told me I had been chosen. I was going to be the very first one. I couldn't believe it. On the morning of April 12th, 1961, I put on my big white space suit and walked to my spaceship, which was called Vostok 1. It was a giant rocket pointing right at the sky. As I got strapped into my seat, I felt excited, not scared. The countdown began. Then, just before liftoff, I shouted into the radio, 'Poyekhali!' which means 'Let's go!'. The rocket roared to life, and I was pushed back into my seat as we soared into the sky. Soon, I was floating. I looked out the little window and saw something amazing. It was our Earth. It was a beautiful blue and white ball, shining in the darkness of space. I was the first human to ever see it like that. My journey showed the world that with courage and hard work, even the biggest dreams can come true. We can reach for the stars and discover new things.