Traces of Past Empires

By pastempires

Statue of Yuri Gagarin in London.

This is the statue of Yuri Gagarin - the first man in space - which has been erected in the Mall in London, in front of the British Council. It will be there for a year from mid July.

This is to mark UK Russia Year of Space. The statue is an exhibition copy of the statue commissioned in 1984 by the small town of Lubertsy, outside Moscow, where Gagarin trained as a foundry worker from the ages of 15-16.

Yuri Gagarin journeyed into space on board Vostok 1 in 1961. His space capsule travelled at a speed of 27.400 kms per hour, and orbited the earth in 108 minutes.

This Soviet statue, shows a life-sized Gagarin standing on a globe in his space suit. It was designed to celebrate the scientific innovations that lie behind the Russian space programme.

Russian cosmonauts visit the status before flights to this day. The status was unveiled by Gagarin's daughter Elena, now Director of the Kremlin Museums.

Gagarin came to London after the flight and was entertained to lunch by HM the Queen and Buckingham Palace.

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