Gherman Titov

Gherman Stepanovich Titov (Герман Степанович Титов) September 11, 1935 (Verhnee Zhilino) - September 20 2000 (Moscow) was a Soviet cosmonaut and the second person to orbit the Earth.

After graduating as an air force pilot, he was selected for cosmonaut training in 1960, and from there was chosen to fly the Vostok 2 mission launched in August the following year. A month short of 26 years old at launch, he remains the youngest person to fly in space.

Following his spaceflight, Titov went on to assume various senior positions in the Soviet space programme until his retirement in 1992. In 1995 he was elected to the Duma as a member of the communist party.

He died of a heart attack in his sauna at age 65.

Quote: "I believe in man - in his strength, his possibilities, and his reason."