The absurd early death of the first cosmonaut on Earth on March 27, 1968, shook all of humanity to the core. Subsequently, much was said about the fact that the tragedy could have been avoided, as well as about the evil fate that was destroying the most prominent representatives of humanity at a young age. However, at the same time, the press for some reason was silent about the fact that Gagarin could have died more than once much earlier than his ill-fated flight.
Mysteries of the first flight
After the end of the first manned flight into space, on April 12, 1961, the Soviet press informed the whole world that the flight took place in the normal mode, all the equipment worked normally. But was it really so? It is known from archival documents that several serious accidents occurred at the launch pad before Gagarin's flight. In particular, in 1960, one of the rockets exploded directly on the launch pad, and of the seven unmanned launches of the Vostok spacecraft, two ended in the death of spaceships. At that time, it was believed that the tests of the rocket could be considered complete only after seven successful launches. But "Vostok" had only five of them.
Nevertheless, the flight had to be in a hurry, since the Americans were breathing in the back. At the same time, since there was no certainty how Gagarin's mind and body would perceive the flight in space, the ship was controlled in a semi-automatic mode. The orbit to which Gagarin was supposed to climb was chosen as low as possible. This was done in such a way that even if the braking system fails, the astronaut will return to Earth alive due to natural physical reasons in a maximum of 5-7 days. But soon after the launch, it turned out that the "Vostok" rose 40 km above the calculated orbit. At this moment, Gagarin put himself at mortal risk and was on the verge of death. If the braking system of the ship had failed, the ballistic descent would have occurred no earlier than in 12-20 days. So much would Gagarin not survive in orbit. Fortunately, everything went well.
Failed attempt
Nevertheless, the fate prepared for Yu. A. Gagarin has yet another fatal test, which he did not even suspect. In the last days of July 1961, the first cosmonaut was to visit Cuba on an honorable visit. Moreover, not only the country's leadership was preparing for the arrival of an important guest, but also the agents of the American special services who were planning an attempt on the life of Fidel Castro, but also his Soviet guest. As is known from the historical chronicles, 1961 turned out to be unusually rich in the number of attempts on the life of Fidel Castro. The first of these happened on April 15, when, after the American bombing, a pro-American underground was supposed to rise on the island. However, this did not happen, since all the conspirators were arrested in advance by the Cuban security service. Nevertheless, the Americans did not calm down and were planning a series of new assassination attempts. Fidel Castro was informed about this by officers of the USSR KGB. In June 1961, it became known about a planned new assassination attempt involving the presidents of Guatemala, Venezuela and Costa Rica under the general leadership of the CIA in the framework of Operation Condor. Nevertheless, the Cuban security service again worked proactively, destroying the underground conspiratorial network with the loud name "Cuban National Front". In particular, its leader Aviles Koutina, who was in contact with a CIA agent under the pseudonym "Caesar", was arrested. It was from Kautina that the secret services of Cuba, and then the USSR, learned that on July 26, in addition to Fidel Castro, Yuri Gagarin was to be killed in order to give the terrorist attack a greater political effect. Nevertheless, since all the conspirators were arrested, Gagarin nevertheless flew to Cuba under heavy guard, but did not stay there for long,going further to Canada.
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