“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space. ​Yuri’s Night, a worldwide space-exploration celebration held each April 12, marks Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight in 1961 via the Vostok 3KA spacecraft of the Vostok 1 program.  It also marks the debut lauch of U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia 20 years later to the day.

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space. ​Yuri’s Night, a worldwide space-exploration celebration held each April 12, marks Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight in 1961 via the Vostok 3KA spacecraft of the Vostok 1 program.  It also marks the debut lauch of U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia 20 years later to the day.

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space. ​Yuri’s Night, a worldwide space-exploration celebration held each April 12, marks Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight in 1961 via the Vostok 3KA spacecraft of the Vostok 1 program.  It also marks the debut lauch of U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia 20 years later to the day.

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space. ​Yuri’s Night, a worldwide space-exploration celebration held each April 12, marks Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight in 1961 via the Vostok 3KA spacecraft of the Vostok 1 program.  It also marks the debut lauch of U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia 20 years later to the day.

“Circling the Earth in my orbital spaceship I marveled at the beauty of our planet. People of the world, let us safeguard and enhance this beauty — not destroy it!” — Yuri Gagarin, 1st human in space. ​Yuri’s Night, a worldwide space-exploration celebration held each April 12, marks Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight in 1961 via the Vostok 3KA spacecraft of the Vostok 1 program.  It also marks the debut lauch of U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia 20 years later to the day.