continued his descent, he remained conscious as he experienced about 8 g during reentry. (Gagarin's own report states "over 10 g".) At 07:55 UTC, when Vostok 1 was still from the ground, the hatch of the spacecraft was released, and two seconds later Gagarin was ejected. At altitude, the main parachute was deployed from the Vostok spacecraft. Gagarin's parachute opened almost immediately, and about ten minutes later, at 08:05 UTC, Gagarin landed. Both he and the spacecraft landed via parachute south west of Engels, in the Saratov region at . A farmer and her granddaughter, Rita Nurskanova, observed the strange scene of a figure in a bright orange suit with a large white helmet landing near them by parachute. Gagarin later recalled, "When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging alongside as I walked, they started to back away in fear. I told them, don't be afraid, I am a Soviet citizen like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!" Reactions and legacy Soviet reaction Gagarin's flight was announced while Gagarin was still in orbit, by Yuri Levitan, the leading Soviet radio personality since the 1930s. Although news of Soviet rocket launches would normally be aired only after the fact, Sergei Korolev wrote a note to the Party Central Committee to convince them that the announcement should be made as early as possible: "We consider it advisable to publish the first TASS report immediately after the satellite-spacecraft enters orbit, for the following reasons: (a) if a rescue becomes necessary, it will facilitate rapid organization of a rescue; (b) it precludes any foreign government declaring that the cosmonaut is a military scout." The flight was celebrated as a great triumph of Soviet science and technology, demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system over capitalism. Moscow and other cities in the USSR held mass demonstrations, the scale of which was comparable to World War II Victory Parades. Gagarin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation's highest honour. He also became an international celebrity, receiving numerous awards and honours. April 12 was declared Cosmonautics Day in the USSR, and is celebrated today in Russia as one of the official "Commemorative Dates of Russia." In 2011, it was declared the International Day of Human Space Flight by the United Nations. Gagarin's informal reply Poyekhali! ("Let's go!") became