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Well I've had an exceptionally lazy few weeks. I did very little of any consequence. Sadly that included photography. Perhaps now that I'm back my photographer's block will go away too.

Interlude

Interlude

Interlude

Interlude

Interlude

Interlude

As I've said it's time for the Poor Mouth to take a short break.

Here are a couple of animal vids that I've posted before but what the hey. Enjoy cat antics and a randy kakapo





The Kakapo surely provides the finest moment in wildlife tv history since David Attenborough met the Gorillas!

Some old interlude vids have been autoposted too.

See you after Easter

Now we are five

Here starts Year Six of the Poor Mouth having lasted about four years and 10 months more than I expected when I put up my first post back in April 2006 when the world was young and digital watches were still a good idea.

After over nearly 4100 posts, over 1,015,000 visits and nearly 43,000 comments, the drivel still keeps on coming

I am grateful to everyone who continues to visit, everyone who has linked to the Poor Mouth and to everyone who has left comments over the years. Without you the Poor Mouth is nothing.

I will take a break shortly, After five years of relentless rubbish I deserve a little rest. But fear not it is more than likely that I will be putting up my sixth blogoversary post this time next year.

The first cosmonaut

There has been a lot of speculation about whether the USSR attempted to send a cosmonaut into space before Yuri Gagarin. Most of the discussion has been within the realm of the conspiracy theorist and quite honestly, the supporting evidence is pretty thin… until now that is.

 model of a Vostok era cosmonaut

A new book published today reveals that there was in fact one partly successful space flight prior to Gagarin but the cosmonaut was so badly injured that Nikita Kruschev himself ordered the suppression of all records pertaining to the flight.


Ivan Ivanovich Maketov was born in Begemodsk, near Moscow, in 1923. Commissioned into the Red Air Force in 1941 he served with distinction and it was his exemplary war record that landed him a position as a test pilot for the Mikoyan Gurevitch design bureau.

In 1958 Maketov was one of six Air Force officers selected for cosmonaut training. Maketov was considered the most able candidate, better even than Gagarin and so it was no surprise whent he was selected for the first Vostok flight in March 1961.

Vostok 1 was launched on 9 March. Maketov made three successful orbits of the earth before returning to earth. During re entry, an electrc malfunction caused a fire in the capsule burning Maketov severely. Despite this he was able to bail out of the capsule but landed badly breaking his back, hip and legs.

An injured Matekov after bailing out of Vostok 1

Because of his injuries it was decided that a severely injured cosmonaut would not present the Soviet Union’ in the best light. All information about Maketov’s was suppressed. On 12 April Gagarin made his historic flight. His vessel was originally designated Vostok 2 but was renamed Vostok 1 as part of the cover up.

Maketov after reconstructive surgery

Maketov, spent two years undergoing rehabilitation after the incident but was unable to make a full recovery. Despite numerous reconstructive operations his face remained severely disigured. In 1963 he was granted a pension and flat in Sochi where he lived until his death in 1988.

The First Cosmonaut was written by scientist and aviation historian Matyob Govnovsky.. He had been was granted unprecedented access to the Soviet spacet archives. Even so he was shocked to discover several files on Maketov.

“There has been a lot of speculation about failed missions before Gagarin”, he said “It was a genuine shock to discover that the speculations were actually based in fact”.

Govnovsky has already petitioned the Russian government to erect a memorial to Maketov. “Gagarin was a true hero but so was Maketov. It would take nothing away from Gagarin’s achievement to erect a memorial to another true hero of space,” he said.

Cats in zero gravity

USAF experiment with cats on the vomit comet