Russia Marks Cosmonautics Day
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12.04.2010
Russia marks Cosmonautics Day on Monday to commemorate the first manned space flight made on April 12, 1961 by Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin, who made one complete orbit around the Earth aboard the Vostok spaceship. The mission lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes, heralding the beginning of the space age. The past 49 years have seen 514 astronauts from 36 countries making their complete orbit flights around the Earth, with the Russia remaining the world’ top country in terms of space sector-related achievements. Suffice it to mention Valentina Tereshkova and German Titov, who became the world’s first woman in space and the world’s most young spaceman, respectively. Specialists say that the next few years may well see an array of manned space missions to the Moon and Mars.