Gagarin's Creation Of The Space Race

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Yuri Gagarin created an inspiration for not only fellow pilots like himself, but also everyday people. He worked in Russia to start the Space Race, a competition between USA and the Soviet Union. (Wilson, 2011) On April 12th, 1961, Gagarin went to space. “On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft.” (Wilson, 2011) Then, less than a month later, Alan Shepard was the first American in space. Another thing Gagarin created was starting gifted education. America and Russia were building up the smartest kids to go to space for them. A while later, more gifted schools opened so more people could go to those