GREAT AVIATION QUOTES
YURI GAGARIN

Poyekhali!

Yuri Gagarin

At liftoff of his Vostok 1 capsule, 09:07 Moscow Time, 12 April 1961. (In English, “Let’s Go!” or “Let’s Roll!”)

I see Earth! It is so beautiful!

Yuri Gagarin

Credited as the first words from space, 12 April 1961. The European Space Agency used it as the title of its 50th-anniversary Gagarin article, I see Earth! It is so beautiful!, published 12 April 2011.

But that may be a poetic translation. Russian transcript pages show “Докладываю: вижу Землю, видимость отличная”, which translates more as:

“I report: I see Earth, visibility is excellent.”

Don’t be afraid comrades! I am a friend.

Yuri Gagarin

First words on the ground after first spaceflight, Vostok 1, to a woman and a girl nearby, Saratov region, 12 April 1961. Several slightly different versions exist, this one was used by The Guardian newspaper on 16 April 2021.

The woman replied: Can it be that you have come from outer space?
Yuri: As a matter of fact, I have!

I am watching the Earth. The visibility is good. I feel well and cheerful. The machine is functioning normally.

Yuri Gagarin

First person to orbit Earth, radio transmissions during Vostok 1, 12 April 1961. Quoted in Scientific American, May 1961.

To be the first to enter the cosmos, to engage single handed in an unprecedented duel with nature — could anyone dream of anything greater than that?

Yuri Gagarin

Speech before the launch of Vostok 1, 12 April 1961. Published in English by Russian Archives as Excerpts from Yuri Gagarin’s speech before his departure.

I saw for the first time the earth's shape. I could easily see the shores of continents, islands, great rivers, folds of the terrain, large bodies of water. The horizon is dark blue, smoothly turning to black . . . the feelings which filled me I can express with one word—joy.

Yuri Gagarin

Quoted in Soviet Traveler Returns From Out of this World, LIFE magazine, 21 April 1961. The article notes, “his account of the flight was larded with blatant and sometimes comic propaganda references. But his words, describing what no human being had ever seen before, outsoared the shadow of the cold war and touched the hope and imaginattion of all men.”



The article had another great aviation quote, cited from one impatient U.S. Congressman: “Everyone remembers Lindbergh, but who remembers the second man to fly the Atlantic?”

Men have perished. But new ships have left their moorings, new aircraft have taxied to the takeoff strip … Nothing will stop us. The road to the stars is steep and dangerous. But we’re not afraid … Space flights can’t be stopped. This isn’t the work of one man or even a group of men. It is a historical process which mankind is carrying out in accordance with the natural laws of human development.

Yuri Gagarin

Russian media statement issued after the first death in space, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov, 1967.