Artifact Category: photograph, autograph.
Dimensions: 8.6 x 12 cm.
Description: Gherman Titov was a Soviet Air Force pilot and cosmonaut who became the second human to orbit the Earth, after Yuri Gagarin. On August 6, 1961, Titov completed 17 orbits around the Earth aboard the Vostok 2 spacecraft, spending more than 25 hours in space.
Born in the Altai Krai region of Russia in 1935, Titov joined the Soviet Air Force in 1953 and trained as a fighter pilot. He was selected to be a cosmonaut in 1960 and underwent extensive training for his space mission.
Titov's historic flight made him the youngest person ever to travel into space, at the age of 25. During his time in orbit, he conducted scientific experiments and became the first person to suffer from space sickness, a condition that affects many astronauts and cosmonauts.
After returning to Earth, Titov continued to work in the Soviet space program, participating in the development of new spacecraft technology and training future cosmonauts. He retired from the Air Force in 1987 with the rank of major general.
This signed picture comes with a Letter of Authenticity from Steve Zarelli.
