Presented by the Royal Albert Hall with support from RIA Novosti, Russia's leading news agency and Science Photo Library
Fifty years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to leave the Earth's atmosphere and venture into orbital space. Find out more about Sergei Korolev, the mysterious 'Chief Designer' who launched him, and discover what happened to the young space hero when he returned to earth.
From the terror of the gulags to the lure of the stars, the dawn of the Space Age reflects both the darkest and the most brilliant facets of 20th century history.
Piers Bizony writes about science, aerospace and cosmology for a wide variety of magazines, including Focus, New Scientist and the BBC's Sky at Night magazine. Among his many recent book projects is Atom, a tie-in book for a BBC TV series about the rivalries and passions at play during the discovery of quantum physics. His book Starman, co-authored with film maker Jamie Doran, tells Gagarin's real story for the first time.
Piers is a regular speaker at the Cheltenham Science Festival and was recently invited to speak to Nasa.
This talk is part of the Royal Albert Hall's "Poyekhali!" exhibition. A private view of the exhibition on the Ground Floor Corridor will be available to attendees.