in 1962, he began serving as a deputy to the supreme soviet of the soviet union. he later came back to star city. while there, he worked on designs for a reusable spacecraft. gagarin worked on these designs in star city for seven years. he became lieutenant colonel (or podpolkovnik) of the soviet air force on 12 june 1962. then on 6 november 1963 he got the rank of colonel (polkovnik) of the soviet air force. soviet people tried to keep him away from any flights, being worried of losing their hero in an accident. gagarin was backup pilot for vladimir komarov in the soyuz 1 flight. as komarov's flight ended in a deadly crash, gagarin was banned from training for and helping out in further spaceflight/s.