Today, the whole world celebrates one of humankind's greatest
achievements when - 50 years ago on April 12, 1961 - Soviet cosmonaut
Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly in space.
The flight lasted only 108 minutes, but as one poet put it, "it is a
very small time, but it compresses the centuries inside." And it is
true. The dream of generations was achieved when one great Russian man
overcame gravity, and sailed beyond the atmosphere. This was a
monumental achievement that will never be forgotten.
The whole world applauded Gagarin, and wanted to him to come as a
guest to every country, to every city, and to virtually every corner
of our planet. Neil Armstrong said
about Gagarin - "He calls all of us to go into space."
In fact, what took place on this date 50 years ago, transcends time
and space. This was the crowning achievement of our civilization - the
first manned flight into space.
Gagarin is a true hero. Books have been written about him, Poems are
dedicated to him. His letters are highly prized. He was a very worldly
yet humble man, despite his impressive mission. Gagarin is rightly
considered a citizen of the universe. He was open, courageous,
intelligent, honest, kind, purposeful, and a true patriot.
We, as members of the only team representing Russia and the former
Soviet Union in the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition, are very
pleased and proud to
say that Yuri Gagarin was a citizen of a great country - the USSR -
which made a spectacular breakthrough in space.
We feel a great responsibility to honor those who launched Gagarin
into space, too. Those Soviet engineers and designers made the dream a
reality. And so will we, their followers, make dreams a reality -
sending the first private lunar rover on the moon.
Yuri Gagarin made history forever. And even after hundreds or
thousands of years, when people begin to travel between stars and
galaxies, the history will always remember the name of the person who
was first to venture into space. It was Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin.
Thank you, Yuri! From your followers! From all mankind!
