He died two days after Russia secured its place in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the country's first appearance ever in that competition.

[3] A similar story was told by French broadcaster Eduard Bobrovsky, but his version had the launch occurring in March, resulting in Ilyushin slipping into a coma.

[3] Later that year, U.S. News & World Report transmitted the rumor by claiming that Gagarin had never flown, and was merely a stand-in for the sickened Ilyushin.

After a guidance malfunction, the cosmonaut is reported to have made an unguided crash landing in China, too critically injured to announce the mission a complete success.

The data sought was from the CIA tracking station at Tern Island that supposedly covered and recorded Iluyshin's failed mission.

"[7] This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.