

50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space - sheffield
http://yurigagarin50.org/

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JacobAldridge
I learnt today that Gagarin's flight was 100 years to the day since the US
Civil War began (April 12, 1861 and April 12, 1961).

Neither were good days to be American, and while it's merely a coincidence
(I'm sure the connection would be more prominent in Soviet literature had the
date been intentional) it makes me wonder what blows to the US nationhood may
be waiting to strike on April 12, 2061? China? Martians? Almost something as
seemingly unlikely to us today as space flight was to the Wright Brothers in
1911, and a Civil War would have been to the founding fathers in 1811.

Civil War Source <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13040351>

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BasDirks
for those interested:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKs6ikmrLgg&feature=chann...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKs6ikmrLgg&feature=channel_video_title)

"A real time recreation of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering first orbit, shot
entirely in space from on board the International Space Station."

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brudgers
After recently reading that Vostok 1 was not designed for a soft landing and
that Gagarin had to eject and parachute during re-entry, I realized that a
Soviet Union centered version of _The Right Stuff_ could make a compelling
story.

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Contractor69
Agreed, there are some amazing stories (some horrifying as well) from the
early days of the Soviet manned space program.

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sili
It just struck me how nonchalant he had to be to start the first manned space
flight in history of humanity with word "Poyehaly". As if he was taking a
road-trip to the nearby town.

