CLAIM: Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut who became the first person to go to space 61 years ago, has been stripped of his honors by the Space Foundation because he is Russian.
THE FACTS: The Space Foundation changed the name of an annual fundraiser that was previously known as “Yuri’s Night,” but it didn’t strip Gagarin of any honors. The nonprofit, which advocates for the global space industry, continues to celebrate Gagarin’s accomplishments at events and with a display at its Discovery Center, a spokesman told The Associated Press.
This undated photo shows Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
The Space Foundation’s decision to rename an annual fundraiser amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was distorted by social media users who falsely claimed the organization stripped Gagarian of official honors. “Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first person in space, has been stripped of his honours by the Space Foundation ‘in light of current events,’” read a tweet, which was shared across platforms in a screenshot. “Imagine pretending Neil Armstrong never walked on the moon because the US invaded Iraq decades later,” another post commented.
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But the Space Foundation isn’t pretending Gagarin wasn’t the first man in space. Instead, it changed the name of an annual fundraiser from “Yuri’s Night” to “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next” after its initial social media posts about the April 3 fundraiser elicited negative responses about Russia on social media.
“Almost four weeks ago, we posted about Yuri’s Night and our social media feeds started to feed into a lot of anti-Russian anger,” Rich Cooper, vice president of strategic communications and outreach at the Space Foundation, said in a phone interview with the AP. “We wanted to not have our social media platforms become any type of venue for hate or animosity against anyone. We changed the name out of respect for that situation.” Cooper said the narrative that the Space Foundation was stripping Gagarin of any honors is “totally false” and added that “no one can strip away” the honor of being the first person to go to space.
The Space Foundation has not conferred specific honors to Gagarian but it has a display for the cosmonaut at its Discovery Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The nonprofit has no plans to stop celebrating Gagarin’s accomplishments in any capacity, Cooper said. In a public statement issued on its website, the Space Foundation said this year’s annual fundraiser will still “highlight Yuri’s flight,” as well as other “space milestones.”
— Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed this report.
