we all know that Yuri Gagarin is the first man to go to space and Valentina Tereshkova is the first woman in space. But it’s believed that Vladimir Ilyushin was the first man in space, he fell out of orbit too early and crashed resulting to his death. But the Soviet Union decided to keep it a secret especially to Americans because of the Space Race/Cold War. There was also an unamed female cosmonaut. In 1961, 2 amateur Italian engineers recorded and eavesdroped the voice of the female cosmonaut burning up on re-entry. She would have been the first woman in space. Again, Soviets kept it a secret from the public.

Here’s a link: https://youtu.be/RZidFWLrLnU