“There are no borders in space between us”. That’s what Roscosmos’ Mikhail Kornienko and NASA’s Scott Kelly tell the world as they are about to start their year-long mission on the International Space Station—in preparation for a future trip to Mars. There are indeed no borders in space, and space exploration is a challenge that humanity as a whole took up 54 years ago, with the first manned flights by Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard in 1961.
Since then, over 540 people have been to space—that’s more than the number of people with Vatican citizenship, or approximately 38 metric tons (of sheer awesomeness)! Gagarin’s flight was once described as “a breakthrough into the Great Unknown.” but today’s Great Unknown lies way beyond low Earth orbit, and we will soon be ready to go there.
Still, it all started with a 27-year-old Soviet Air Force senior lieutenant who loved flying and ice hockey. So to commemorate Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering achievement, every April people across the world get together for Yuri’s Night, a fun and inspiring celebration of major space exploration milestones. And this year, which also marks the 40th …