YURI GAGARIN:
HIS LIFE IN PICTURES
(cont.)

Yuri was subjected to extremely rigorous training: physical, mental, and psychological. He underwent long periods in a sensory deprivation chamber, experiments with weightlessness, endurance in heat chambers, and test flights under stress with every reaction monitored. One test was to solve difficult mathematical equations while a loudspeaker blasted out answers. He was calm, resolute and always had a sense of humor and he always finished at the top. His fellow cosmonauts described him as: "fit comrade, never loses heart, a man of principles, bold and steadfast, modest and simple, decisive, a leader."

What amazed the doctors most was that, no matter how hard the test, Yuri always maintained a cheerful sense of humor.

He displayed great physical strength that outshined his fellow trainees.

The doctors would say to him, "The stratosphere is not the limit for you!"

Like any good pilot, Yuri enjoyed a well-engineered, fast car.

He was devoted to his family, and they were never far from his mind. He mentioned during one test flight while experimenting with a golden sphere, "Here I am, a grown man and a prospective cosmonaut, playing with a golden ball and holding a little flask of water to drink from. If only my little girl could see her daddy with these toys." It was during this very flight that he first witnessed water weightlessness. He described catching the spherical drops of water "in his hand, like butterflies."

When word came that Yuri was the cosmonaut chosen to attempt the dangerous voyage into outer space, he and Valya talked all night. With trembling lips she asked him, "Why you?" By morning she would say, "If you are sure of yourself go. Everything will be all right."

He always had time for the girls.