THE 1963 first edition of The Teaching of English Literature Overseas asks readers the following partly-apocryphal question: “Why is it that Russian cosmonauts, changing planes at Prestwick, try to make a brief pilgrimage to the birthplace of Robert Burns?”
Before unpacking this outlandish-looking query, emphasis must first be given to Prestwick Airport’s monumental 60+ years of service to the international space industry.
Prestwick’s investment in space predates both the moon landing and the Space Shuttle. The airport is free of fog, ice and snow most of the year, making it ideal for heavy, experimental, and long-haul flight management.
It has been carefully accommodating tired astronauts, sometimes as often as every three to six months, since the Shuttle programme ended in 2011, and is now the leading candidate for future horizontal launch systems.
READ MORE: The mysterious Scots who may have undertaken first European exploration of America
West FM reported (in 2017) that “Glasgow Prestwick plays a vital role during the mission[s] to return astronauts to Houston” from their Russian Soyuz landing site in Kazakhstan.
According to Nasa’s Spaceflight Magazine, this time in Scotland “is understood to be an enjoyable experience for newly earthbound astronauts”.
Scotland is usually the “first chance they get to see and experience lush greenery after six months in space”. Nasa astronauts like Shane Kimbrough spent months working in the sterile monotones of space before landing in the green rolling hills of Scotland.
It would be pretty strange if Soviet Cosmonauts were wandering around Burns Country at the height of the Cold War, and I’ve yet to encounter any evidence that such a tradition or ritual existed.
The Glasgow Herald (October 9, 1963) did however say that “Major Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, will be at Prestwick Airport this afternoon” and was “likely to visit Burns’s Cottage and Museum” in Alloway.
It was a problematic flight and a diplomatic nightmare. Under the headline “Gagarin’s Plane Delayed – and No Permit for Prestwick”, the Glasgow Herald (October 10, 1963) told disappointed readers that the “Russian air liner flying the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin” hadn’t yet received permission to land at any British airport or airstrip.
The UK was refusing Russian landing requests because British flights weren’t permitted to use reciprocal facilities in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had till that point “never been willing to agree to civil aviation facilities for British air lines at points beyond Moscow”, the newspaper said. This was a problem, and the USSR was forced to consider the possibility that “Colonel Gagarin will travel by some other route” or even “fly direct to Cuba”.
READ MORE: It's time to end ignorance of Irvine's royal and ancient history
The Herald (and the Montreal Gazette) reported that exceptions had been made, and “Gagarin was elevated by the Foreign Office to the status of an exception”. He finally had permission to land in the UK. Space-fans in Scotland found out for the first time that Yuri Gagarin “and the spacewoman Valentina Tereshkova” (the first woman in space) would “return to Moscow via Prestwick in about a week’s time”.
Gagarin and Tereshkova weren’t the only professional aeronauts and star-gliders to schedule a trip to Ayrshire. There were notable visits from rocket-scientist Wernher Von Braun and the aviator Charles Lindbergh.
Gherman Titov, the second Cosmonaut (and youngest human) in space at the time, landed at Prestwick.
Accompanying Titov was the head of the Soviet cosmonaut corps, Nikolai Kamanin, who campaigned tirelessly for the establishment of a female space corp and female-only crews, and believed men and women should have equal representation in space.
When the first woman in space finally stepped onto Scottish tarmac, she gave the following frustratingly brief statement to excited journalists who’d gathered to catch a glimpse of the first man in space.
“Yuri is on the plane but he won’t come off. Yuri’s rather annoyed after what has happened. Perhaps I should be diplomatic and say he is tired, but I might as well be frank … he’s annoyed.”
Yuri Gagarin didn’t tour Burns country. He had a huff instead.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here