Yuri Gagarin has not been stripped of his honours by the ‘Space Foundation’ following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 22, 2022
A post is being widely circulated on social media claiming that Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human who explored outer space, has been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ amid ongoing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human who explored outer space, has been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ amid ongoing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Fact: In the light of current world events, the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ had recently changed their annual fundraiser’s name from “Yuri’s night” to “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next”. But the ‘Space Foundation’ did not take away any honour of Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person to fly to space. A dedicated webpage of Yuri Gagarin’s achievements is still available on the Space Foundation website. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to check whether Yuri Gagarin has been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’, we could not find any credible information. We still found a dedicated webpage on Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s achievements on the ‘Space Foundation’ website. The Space Foundation website described Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human to explore outer space.  Yuri Gagarin was the first person to make a  journey to outer space on 12 April 1961.
In the light of current world events, the ‘Space Foundation’ had recently changed their annual fundraiser’s name from ‘Yuri’s night’ to “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next”. Reporting this, several news websites published articles. They can be seen here and here. But apart from renaming their fundraiser, ‘Space Foundation’ did not take away any honours of the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. ‘Space Foundation’ still regards Yuri Gagarin as the man who achieved what was at the time the biggest milestone in the Space Race.
Rich Cooper, the vice president of strategic communications and outreach at the Space Foundation, confirmed to the ‘Associated Press’ that the narrative of Space Foundation stripping of Yuri Gagarin of any honours is “totally false”. Speaking to the ‘AP’, Rich Cooper said, “No one can strip away the honour of being the first person to go to space. Yuri Gagarin is in the first sentence of the first paragraph of the first chapter of humanity’s exploration of space”. Cooper further clarified to ‘AP’ that the Space Foundation had not conferred any specific honours to Gagari but has a display for the cosmonaut at its Discovery Center in Colorado Springs.
To sum it up, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human who explored outer space, has not been stripped of his honours by the US-based ‘Space Foundation’ amid ongoing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.