A statue of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin will stand guard along one of London’s most important thoroughfares for the next 12 months, the British Council said on April 5 — a gesture intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight into space.
LONDON (AP) — A statue of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin will stand guard along one of London’s most important thoroughfares for the next 12 months, the British Council said on April 5 — a gesture intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight into space.
The aluminium-and-zinc likeness of the pioneering space hero will go up on April 7 in honor of Gagarin’s successful flight around the earth from Baikonur, in modern-day Kazakhstan, the council said in a statement.
It will stand opposite a statue of 18th century British naval explorer Capt. James Cook on London’s Mall — the ceremonial route between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square.
In a statement, British Council Chair Vernon Ellis said the statue was meant to pay tribute to the “sheer bravery and adventure” of Gagarin’s space flight.
Through this statue we celebrate both that breakthrough for mankind and the UK-Russian relationship
– Vernon Ellis, British Council Chair
“Through this statue we celebrate both that breakthrough for mankind and the U.K.-Russian relationship,” Ellis said.
The statue is a replica of one commissioned in the Moscow suburb of Lyubertsy, where Gagarin once worked, and is a gift from Russian space agency Roscosmos, the council said.
It added that the work would be taken down after a year and moved elsewhere in Britain.
A U.S. astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts blasted off on April 5 in pre-dawn darkness, riding into orbit on a Soyuz craft emblazoned with Gagarin’s portrait.
The launch from Russia’s cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was the first for Alexander Samokutyayev and Andrei Borisenko.
The NASA astronaut traveling with them, Ron Garan, had made one previous trip into space, on a U.S. space shuttle mission in 2008.
Fifty years ago, one nation launched one man, basically as a competition. Today, the three of us represent the many nations of the international partnership that makes up the International Space Station.
– Ron Garan, NASA astronaut
The April 5 launch was seven days shy of anniversaries of two space milestones: Gagarin’s flight into orbit in 1961 from the same launch pad and the first flight of the U.S. space shuttle 20 years later.
Speaking to reporters the day before the launch, Garan noted how much space flight has changed since Gagarin was launched during the space race between the two Cold War superpowers.
“Fifty years ago, one nation launched one man, basically as a competition,” Garan said. “Today, the three of us represent the many nations of the international partnership that makes up the International Space Station.”
In line with a now 50-year tradition, the crew earlier this week visited the cabin where Gagarin spent his last night before his flight. The American astronaut admitted getting “a little bit of chills” when he visited the cabin, where all the furniture and even Gagarin’s personal belongings have been kept intact.
Russian spacecraft are normally austere in their design, carrying only an identifying number. The decision to name the current mission’s spacecraft after Gagarin and decorate it with his portrait shows the reverence with which he is held in the Russian space industry.
The Soyuz also was painted with Gagarin’s now famous line as he headed for the launch pad: “Let’s go!”
