Countdown to Yuri?s Night and the 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight !

Celebrate Yuri?s Night on April 12, 2011 -- 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight
On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft.
Newspapers like The Huntsville Times (right) trumpeted Gagarin's accomplishment.
Credit: NASA
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Mark your calendars. April 12, 2011 marks the 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight and Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin?s astonishing First Orbit of our precious planet Earth on April 12, 1961. Gagarin was the first human to enter outer space and see what no one else had ever witnessed ? our commonly shared Earth as a planet and beautiful blue globe with no borders.

Space enthusiasts worldwide are celebrating this watershed moment in Human history at a network of over 400 ?Yuri?s Night? parties taking place in more than 70 countries on 6 continents and 2 worlds, according to the official ?Yuri?s Night? website. (...)
Read the rest of Countdown to Yuri’s Night and the 50th Anniversary of Human Spaceflight ! (850 words)

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Post tags: 50th anniversary of Human Spaceflight, Baikonur Cosmodome, cold war, Cupola, human spaceflight, international space station, ISS, NASA, soviet space program, Soviet Union, Space Shuttle, space shuttle columbia, STS-1, vostok 1, Yuri Gagarin, Yuri's Night

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Full story at http://www.universetoday.com/84719/countdown-to-yuris-night-and-the-50th-anniversary-of-human-spaceflight/