Question by Samian’s Seventh Account: Is it true when Yuri Gagarin (1st man in space) entered orbit his 1st words were “I don’t see any god up here”?
Or is that just a rumor?
If so, does anyone know what his first recorded words in outer space were?
(Please STAR this question!)
Well, he obviously said it in Russian…
Answers and Views:
Answer by asylum31
I doubt those were his words because he spoke Russian. Wikipedia also makes an attempt to dispel this rumor.
On 12 April 1961, Gagarin became the first human to travel into space, launching to orbit aboard the Vostok 3KA-2 (Vostok 1). His call sign in this flight was Kedr (Cedar; Russian: Кедр).[4] During his flight, Gagarin famously whistled the tune “The Motherland Hears, The Motherland Knows” (Russian: “Родина слышит, Родина знает”).[5][6] The first two lines of the song are: “The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows/Where her son flies in the sky”.[7] This patriotic song was written by Dmitri Shostakovich in 1951 (opus 86), with words by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky.
There are speculations in the media that from orbit Gagarin made the comment, “I don’t see any God up here.” However, no such words appear in the verbatim record of Gagarin’s conversations with the Earth during the spaceflight.[8] In a 2006 interview a close friend of Gagarin, Colonel Valentin Petrov, stated that Gagarin never said such words, and that the phrase originated from Nikita Khrushchev’s speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, where the anti-religious propaganda was discussed. In a certain context Khrushchev said, “Gagarin flew into space, but didn’t see any God there”.[9] Colonel Petrov also said that Gagarin had been baptised into the Orthodox Church as a child.
While in orbit Gagarin was promoted “in the field” from the rank of Senior Lieutenant to Major, and this was the rank at which TASS announced him in its triumphant statement during the flight.[citation needed]
Gagarin being safely returned, Nikita Khrushchev rushed to his side and Gagarin issued a statement praising the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as the “organizer of all our victories”[citation needed]. Khrushchev saw Gagarin’s achievement as a vindication of his policy of strengthening the Soviet Union’s missile forces at the expense of conventional arms. This policy antagonized the Soviet military establishment and contributed to Khrushchev’s eventual downfall.
“The Earth is blue. … How wonderful. It is amazing.”
—Gagarin, to ground control, BBC News[10]
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Necromancer says
God has better eye sight than he does. He saw Yuri Gagarin just fine. 😉
Diva In New York says
Faith is not something you see with your human eyes..and so I am not suprised he didn't see Him..but he should of recognized His creation!
🙂
paradisemtn says
Matthew 5:8 (King James Version)
8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Zeespot says
There is a persistent rumor that Yuri Gagarin's first words were "I don't see any god up here." However, that phrase does not appear in the official transcripts of the flight. The book "To Rise From Earth" claims that he said "I looked and looked but I didn't see God," but that was after his flight. Apparently, what he said during the actual flight wasn't important enough to record, because I couldn't find any in-flight quotes.
Wise Duck says
No, he said, "I see Earth. It’s so beautiful."
Apparently it was Khrushchev who made that remark.
Need to Know says
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin
Hope this helps.
ArcticFang says
he probably said, whoa
Spellbound *JPA RIP says
No, the first words spoken in space were:
I can see Earth, it's so beautiful"
Edit. Being a bit of a geek I've found a transcript of the conversation he had with ground control for the duration of the flight.
What he said was (my translation)
"I can see the clouds above the earth, small, cumulus clouds. And the shadow of them. It is beautiful, beautiful. Can you hear me?"
If you want to find this bit it's the bit that says
Наблюдаю облака над землей, мелкие, кучевые. И тени от них. Красиво, красота. Как слышите, прием?
Morganie4 says
I think he was looking in the wrong place 🙂
The Christ Puncher says
My Russian is a little rusty, but I think he said: "I just sputniked all over my politboros."
Priรciℓℓ&a says
From Wikipedia:
"There are speculations in the media that from orbit Gagarin made the comment, "I don't see any God up here." However, no such words appear in the verbatim record of Gagarin's conversations with the Earth during the spaceflight.[8] In a 2006 interview a close friend of Gagarin, Colonel Valentin Petrov, stated that Gagarin never said such words, and that the phrase originated from Nikita Khrushchev's speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, where the anti-religious propaganda was discussed. In a certain context Khrushchev said, "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any God there".[9] Colonel Petrov also said that Gagarin had been baptised into the Orthodox Church as a child."
pab says
he was probably more paying attention to what he was doing…you know, flying in a roughly built really old soviet rocket and all
Not For Promotional says
I lol'd.
Colin R says
Who cares?
⌡Mac⌠ says
"I am Eagle" were his first words on reaching orbit. Later he did make a joking reference to not seeing any sign of Heaven.