俄羅斯慶祝載人航天50年

From patriotic songs blaring on the metro to parties on the International Space Station, Russia proudly celebrated on Tuesday 50 years since rocketing Yuri Gagarin into the first human orbit。

In a video link with space, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told astronauts aboard the orbital station that space exploration remained Russia's "priority"。

"In those 50 years, we absolutely can't imagine life without space, without your flights," Medvedev told the crew from Russia's Mission Control Centre, named after the legendary father of the Soviet space programme Sergei Korolyov。

"Space is our priority."

Space station Commander Dmitry Kondratyev said his current six-person US, Russian and European crew would celebrate the holiday from the "front lines" in weightlessness。

"This flight stirred the whole world and showed what humanity was capable of," said veteran Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, 76, who completed the first space walk in 1965.

"He invited us all into space," Leonov told at Kremlin hall filled with some of the world's most well-loved space icons, citing a tribute from the first man on the moon, US astronaut Neil Armstrong, to Gagarin。

Since Gagarin's epic journey into the unknown 50 years ago, some 500 people have followed him into space。

"If Yuri Gagarin had not made this flight I would not have flown to the moon," said US astronaut Thomas Stafford, commander on the first US lunar landing in 1969.俄羅斯本週二高調慶祝人類歷史上首位宇航員尤里•加加林太空飛行50週年。地鐵中響起愛國歌曲，國際空間站也舉辦派對慶祝。

俄羅斯總統米特里•梅德韋傑夫在與國際空間站視頻連線時告訴軌道空間站的宇航員，太空探索仍是俄羅斯的“重中之重”。

梅德韋傑夫告訴俄羅斯宇航控制中心的工作人員：“在過去50年裏，我們完全無法設想沒有太空探索、沒有你們的航天飛行的生活。”這座宇航控制中心是以前蘇聯載人航天開創者謝爾蓋•帕夫洛維奇的名字命名的。

梅德韋傑夫說：“我們要優先發展航天事業。”

空間站指揮官米特里•康德拉特耶夫稱，分別來自美國、俄羅斯和歐洲的六位航天員將在無重的“最前線”慶祝這一天。

前蘇聯宇航員阿列克謝•列昂諾夫說：“加加里的首次太空飛行震驚了全球，展示出人類的巨大能量。”列昂諾夫在1965年首次完成了太空行走，現年76歲，已經退休。

列昂諾夫引述登月第一人、美國宇航員尼爾˙阿姆斯特朗稱讚加加林的話說：“他把人類領進了太空。”當時列昂諾夫正坐在克林姆林宮的大廳裏，大廳中掛滿了世界上最可愛的太空圖標。

自從加加林50年前歷史性的太空之旅後，已有大約500名宇航員進行過太空探索。

1969年美國登月計劃指揮官、美國宇航員托馬斯•斯塔福德說：“如果尤里•加加林沒有進行首次太空飛行，我可能也沒有飛去過月球。”