"Having rounded the Earth in a satellite spaceship, I have seen how beautiful our planet is. Let us preserve and multiply this beauty, not destroy it." - Yuri Gagarin, first man in space, born March 9, 1934.
Yuri Gagarin was a "collective farmer's son who first became a worker, then a pilot, and finally, a cosmonaut". After his famous trip into space on April 12, 1961 Gagarin became an international hero, was a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and became head of the USSR-Cuba Friendship Society. Here he is pictured in Moscow with Che. He was tragically killed on 27 March, 1968 in what was supposed to be a routine training flight.
Below is an article "The Ikarus of the Space Age" which looks at this historic journey. It is from Socialism: Theory and Practice Magazine, April 1981.
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