April 12, 1961 marked the history as день [the day] when весь мир [the whole world] learned that human exploration of outer space was possible. On that date, a 27 year old Soviet пило́т [pilot] and космона́вт [astronaut] Ю́рий Гага́рин [Yuri Gagarin] circled the Earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes aboard his Восто́к 1 [Vostok 1] spacecraft.

Here is the outer space experience in the words of Gagarin himself:

“The feeling of weightlessness was somewhat unfamiliar compared with Earth conditions. Here, you feel as if you were hanging in a horizontal position in straps. You feel as if you are suspended” (Siddiqi, p.278).

Сего́дня [today] we отмеча́ем [celebrate] the 50th Anniversary of the first human space flight. Мно́го космона́втов [many astronauts] journeyed into ко́смос [space] since then. Among them were those who did not return на Зе́млю [to the Earth] from their space expeditions. They all made it possible for us to get a glimpse of life beyond this planet. Let us remember them all on this пра́здник [holiday].

С Днём Космона́втики! – Happy Cosmonautics Day to those who dedicate their lives to a dreamy profession called космона́вт [astronaut]!

The crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia