This is worth a longer post, but I can’t muster the energy at the moment. But 50 years ago today, on April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to rocket into space and orbit Earth. Here’s a link to a Globe & Mail report.
During the height of the Cold War, the Soviet achievement was another coup in the much-vaunted Space Race following its triumphant launch of Sputnik in 1957. The Americans eventually won the race to the Moon, of course. But it was a volatile time.
From a broader perspective, Gagarin’s flight was a triumph for humanity. Seeing Earth from space, I think, puts things in a different perspective and helps us realize how insignificant and precarious our place in the universe is and how we all need to work together to improve our odds of surviving.
Mars beckons. A return to the Moon. The future. Hopefully, anyways. Or are we just going to keep on arguing and fighting over the same tiny patches of land here on Earth like we’ve done for millenia?
