Yuri Gagarin's crew 'lied about' space success as historic flight myth debunked - Daily Express

Today marks 60 years since the Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin shocked the world as he became the first man to reach space.

Yet for all the celebrations, many have questioned the success of Gagarin and Soviet Russia during the period.

Titled, '108 Minutes That Changed the World', it claims that the Soviet writing surrounding the landing was "far from the truth" and in fact obscured the reality of the mission.

The book said: "For many years Soviet literature claimed that Yuri Gagarin and his Vostok landing capsule had come down in the area it was supposed to.

"So it turned out that nobody was waiting or looking for Yuri Gagarin.

Author, Russian journalist Anton Pervushin, alongside the claims, included a letter Gagarin wrote to his wife before the launch

Pondering his own mortality, Gagarin told her not to "die of grief" if he never returned

Just four years before, Soviet scientists had sent Laika the dog into space, only to see her die within hours from overheating

Despite having made it to space and back, Gagarin died in a tragic and mysterious plane crash in 1968, aged just 34