Gagarin was an instant celebrity. At heart, he was a humble farm boy, and becoming a Hero of the Soviet Union was a radical change. Now everyone knew who he was, and many wanted his help. Letters addressed to Gagarin came flooding in. People across the Soviet Union assumed that he must have some sway with the government. They wanted him to help them deliver the things they had been promised by the communist government like food or decent housing. The letters were eye-opening for Gagarin. He now saw the failures to provide for its people that the Soviet government was hiding through its propaganda.
His new position was hard for Gagarin for other reasons as well. He was now a cosmonaut in name only. The Soviets wanted Gagarin to be a symbol of their success. The space program was still dangerous, and they didn’t want to risk their star cosmonaut on actual space missions. Instead, he was paraded around the world as proof of the superiority of the Soviet system. The fame took a toll on Gagarin. He didn’t want to be a celebrity, he wanted to be a pilot. Gagarin soon grew depressed and began drinking heavily. Then, in 1968, he discovered another reason to hate his government.
Gagarin was slated to be a backup pilot for the Soyuz 1 mission, set to launch in April. His close friend, Vladimir Komarov, was scheduled to be the lead pilot. But there were already signs that the Soyuz had serious technical problems, including a number of failed test flights that had seen rockets explode on the launch pad. The mission itself was also very complex and required the cosmonaut to rendezvous with a second craft in orbit, which would have been challenging in the best circumstances. In a flawed craft, it could be deadly.
In spite of the potential dangers of the mission, the launch went ahead as scheduled. For Komarov, it was the second trip to space, and it would also be the last. Immediately, the problems with the Soyuz were clear. A solar panel failed to open and the guidance systems failed. The mission was canceled. But on the way back to Earth, Komarov’s parachute failed to open. His craft hit the ground at full speed and caught fire. Komarov died instantly.
The death of his friend hit Gagarin hard. There’s a lot we don’t know about the Soyuz crash. The Soviet Union was a place where the truth was usually hard to come by. And most of the details that have emerged from people claiming to know the truth about the crash since the Union’s fall are disputed. But if you’re the type who is inclined to believe in Soviet conspiracy theories, Komarov’s death is when things get interesting between Gagarin and the KGB. According to some, it marks the point when the Soviet Government began to view their hero as a threat, and it may have led to his death.