Yuri Gagarin

Today is the 45th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight by Yuri Gagarin.

The Russian news service Interfax now reports that Gagarin never said "I don't see any god up here.", a quote that was famously attributed to him.

Interfax also reports that Gagarin, in addition to being a believer, was also one of the first people to advocate the rebuilding of Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Moscow.

It is also mentioned that Gagarin made repeated trips to the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Monastery.

The full report can be read here.

I once got to meet a cosmonaut from Ukraine who was in Houston to train at Nasa's Johnson Space Center. I met him while we were both attending a service at a local Orthodox church. I remember him stating that many cosmonauts are Orthodox and take their icons and crosses into space with them.