Today would have been Yuriy Gagarin's 70th birthday.

Today would have been Yuriy Gagarin's 70th birthday.

He didn't build his rocket, or fund it, or fuel it -- but he got into it,
knowing enough about what there was to be afraid of.

And after he came back, those fears were never so worrisome for everybody
else.

He was the first man in orbit -- and the first man to realize it wasn't
something to be frightened of.

Here's my 1991 essay on my own assessment of his role in history.

http://www.astronautix.com/articles/celrsary.htm

Jim O
www.jamesoberg.com