----- Original Message ----- From: Jose G. Perez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Marxism List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2001 8:37 AM Subject: April 12: Yuri's Night > "Circling the Earth in the orbital spaceship I marvelled at the beauty of > our planet. People of the world! Let us safeguard and enhance this beauty - > not destroy it!" > - Yuri Gagarin > > April 12 is the 40th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's first space flight by a > human being. > > Astro/Cosmo-geeks are planning parties in many countries throughout the > world. See: www.yurisnight.net. > > While the United States has also had some significant achievements in space > exploration, it was the Soviet Union which led humanity's way into space. > And for 30 years, the Soviet space program remained in the vanguard of human > presence in the cosmos. The U.S. landing on the moon was an impressive > technological and publicity stunt, but one of limited engineering and > scientific value. The Soviets focused instead on the creation of a series of > ever-more-ambitious orbital stations to serve as bases for ongoing research. > > The restoration of capitalism in the territories of the former USSR has > largely decimated those proud scientific and technological achievements. But > their legacy lives on in the International Space Station Alpha, which is > being developed on the solid and broad foundation of the previous Soviet > work, especially the 15-year record of space station MIR. > > In remembering and honoring Gagarin, we commemorate not just the > achievements of an individual, but of a sustained and prolonged program and > the social system that made it possible. > > José > > > >
