Counting Down to Apollo

One American's account of watching humanity reach the Moon

Archive: April 1961

Gagarin
Space Race April 12, 1961

Gagarin

They beat us. A Soviet man orbited the Earth today and I don't know how to feel about it except wrong-footed and shaken and strangely moved.
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The Russians Did It First
Mercury April 12, 1961

The Russians Did It First

Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth this morning while I was eating breakfast. The radio announcer said it so matter-of-factly that for a second I thought I heard wrong. I put down my fork and turned up the volume. The Russians put a man in space. First.
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