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50 years later ...
We are still chained to the surface of this planet. At least, the overwhelming
majority of us.
But 50 years ago, on April 12th 1961, a Russian man was launched into space, orbited it in 108 minutes, and safely returned to
this planet's surface. His name was Yuri Gagarin. That's how the history of the most daring human
endeavor, to be eclipsed only by the Moon landing several years later, was made. But when Armstrong put his foot on the Moon in 1969,
Gagarin, sadly, was no longer among the living. Not even 28 years old at the time of his historic flight, he died in
1968 in a jet crash while on a routine training flight, shortly before the seventh anniversary of his space trip.
He was a short man (only about 5 feet 2) and hence perfect for a small capsule to carry him into space. Many years later, Scott Parazynski could not become part of a mission to the Russian space station Mir because his size raised safety concerns. Parazynski was born the same year Gagarin made headlines with his flight and is the only man who have made it into space and onto the summit of Mount Everest.
While Gagarin was the first man to orbit the Earth, he did not fully circle it. About 1500 kilometers remained to close the loop that reached over 300 kilometers into the near space. He was forced to parachute and
was probably pretty lucky that he survived his flight at all.
These days humans are present in space on a continuous basis thanks to the International Space Station. Vanity flights for the stinking rich have been possible for several years as well, first courtesy of the Russian space program and then, although still largely at an experimental stage, via commercial, state-independent operators.
The Soviet Union was the first country to send its man into space, but only about a month after Gagarin's
pioneering flight,
it was joined by the United States that sent Alan Shepard on a 15 minute
space flight. It was again owing to the Soviet space program that other, smaller nations, at first from the former Soviet bloc only, could send their citizens into space. Among those Czechoslovakia, Poland, and East Germany were the first to follow the superpowers.
By now, over 500 people from about 40 countries have reached the near space, still a handful, but many more are very likely to follow in the next decades. The first step was made 50 years ago. 50 years from now, space flights will most likely be quite common among the wealthy not afraid to give them a try.
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HYPOTHETICAL OR SIMULATED PERFORMANCE RESULTS
HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS UNLIKE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD.
SIMULATED RESULTS DO NOT REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, SINCE THE TRADES
HAVE NOT BEEN EXECUTED, THE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER OR OVER COMPENSATED FOR
THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS LACK OF LIQUIDITY.
SIMULATED TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT
THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION
IS BEING MADE THAT ANY ACCOUNT WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR
LOSSES SIMILAR TO THOSE SHOWN.
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