Celebrating a star: 50 years since Gagarin’s spaceflight

Fifty years ago, on April 12, 1961, Yury Gagarin blasted off, orbited Earth and made history, becoming the first man in space.http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20052927-52.htmlFifty years goes by quickly and I failed to take note of the event even though I had seen a number of articles remembering the occasion.- LRK -It took a note from New Zealand to bring me out of my day to day trance of routine life events.I should think that a number of you may well have participated if a more reflective way with a Yuri Day event.- LRK ----------------------------------------------http://www.boingboing.net/2011/04/13/cosmonauts-day-in-mo.htmlGreetings from the Moscow airport. I've been in Russia for the past few days, accompanying space journalist Miles O'Brien and crew, who are here working on a space-related documentary project. Last night, April 12, 2011, we attended a gala state celebration inside the Kremlin walls honoring the 50th anniversary of cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin: the first human to escape the bounds of earth into space. President Dmitry Medvedev opened the evening with a speech about the importance of Russia's space program. Under his leadership, Russia has increased its space budget and is planning to build a new cosmodrome in Russia, cheaper and closer for Russia than the current facility in ...