posted 07-10-2011 10:27 AM               

• Follow @YuriGagarin50 for a series of tweets over 5 days starting tomorrow at (11th July) at 10:29 when Gagarin arrived at London Heathrow exactly 50 years ago. @YuriGagarin50 will follow in his footsteps matching his itinerary in London and Manchester.

• 12th July – details uncertain – Manchester International airport Airport is unveiling a plaque to commemorate Gagarin's arrival.

• 13:00-14:00 on 12th July Manchester Town Hall. A small gathering of those who met Gagarin in Manchester. This event is by invitation only.

• Yuri Gagarin Exhibition in Sale, Manchester is still open. An introductory talk is planned for the evening of the 12th July.

• 7pm 12th July Science Museum in London Memories of my father. Natalya Koroleva, daughter of Sergei Korolev, Chief Designer of the Soviet Missile and Space Programmes, talks about her father’s incredible achievements.

• 7pm 13th July Science Museum in London Sergei Krikalev will be joined by Helen Sharman, his crew mate and the first Briton in space, and will share experiences of missions on the Soyuz and Shuttle spacecraft and his record breaking stays aboard the International and Mir Space Stations.

• 14th July London unveiling of a Yuri Gagarin statue outside the British Council office in London. followed by a reception in the evening.

• From 23rd July – Peggy and the Spaceman is going to be produced as part of the Manchester 24:7 Theatre Festival.

posted 07-13-2011 04:41 AM               

Speaking in excellent english Natalya gave an illustrated verbal biography of her father which told of his remarkable early years developing and flying gliders, then working with Tupolev, while effectively under house-arrest, and finally his involvement in the rocket program. The secrecy surrounding his identity as the Chief Designer was maintained throughout his career and she told of how he could not even gain access to Red Square for Gagarin's parade because he couldn't reveal who he was. The image was of a very driven (often sleeping every two days), family man, whom she was happy to compare with von Braun (though they never met, even in Germany).

posted 07-14-2011 02:24 AM               

Krikalev spoke for about an hour, giving a precis partly of Russian space development since 1961 and partly about his own experiences. This was followed by about 20 minutes of questions jointly with his TM-12 fellow cosmonaut Helen Sharman, who got quite animated when asked about (the lack of) government funding for the UK space effort. Krikalev is clearly a great choice as administrator of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center, not only for his record in space but for his fluency and charisma.

posted 07-14-2011 07:33 AM               

Left to right: N. Koroleva, E. Gagarina, Duke & Duchess of Kent, Vladimir Popovkin -Head of Roscosmos, S. Krikalev, ano.

N. Koroleva, E. Gagarina

E. Gagarina, Helen Sharman

Elena Gagarina

posted 07-14-2011 09:11 AM            

I think it is great that they have identified the spot where Gagarin's feet first touched the runway, now deep inside a newer terminal building, and placed the plaque there.

posted 07-30-2011 06:15 AM               

Korolev's daughter, grand daughter and great grand daughter.

• Vladimir Popovkin Head of Roscosmos speaking in Russian but with a translator)
  Yuri Gagarin's oldest daughter – Elena Gagarina
  
• Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko
  Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, holds the record for the longest time spent in space
  
• Nataliya Koroleva. Chief Designer Sergei Korolev’s daughter.