Different Space Race

Could Yuri Gagarin have died when bailing out of his craft, resulting in Kennedy ordering a single sub orbital, and getting a modified Redstone to launch a Mercury into orbit, or an early Atlas be able to launch Virgil Grissom into orbit, making him the first man into orbit. I am thinking that the Soviets before hand push Vostok 2 forward, and a matter of days/weeks between the two. Possible or not?
 
Easily. I think there is some evidence that Gargarin is not the first person to enter space. He is simply the first person to come back safely. The other Russian cosmonauts died. Fairly inconclusive though, mainly conspiracy theory stuff. In any case, death is plausible.

Even without any death, the US could have beaten the Soviets with the first man into space. Definitely feasible. A variety of PODs could be used.
 
Perhaps maybe we can have Goddard work during World War II on rockets, and when we capture Braun, V-2's, and research teams, we can have a space faring rocket by 1952 possibly, and a man into orbit by 1956. That can work right?
 
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