50 Years after Gagarin's Historic Flight, Un Salutes Ideals of Peaceful Space Exploration

50 years ago, this man changed the world, by seeing it in a way no one ever had before. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space- and on Tuesday the United Nations celebrated the "International Day of Human Space Flight," half a century to the day after that first flight into the unknown. As well as celebrating the men and women in the suits, the day recognizes that space science and technology also helps to achieve progress in areas like agriculture, meteorology, telecoms and biology. Vitaly Churkin is Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN. "We hope that this day April 12th will become a genuinely universal celebration of common aspirations of humanity, for outer space belongs to us all, and we all share the dreams it inspires" A dream that is still realized today. Cosmonauts currently orbiting the earth on the International Space Station delivered their own message to the world. Dimitri Kondratyev is one of them. "one can see how much remains to be done to stop conflicts, to provide peace and prosperity to all peoples living on our planet. We're glad that future generations will be able to celebrate the 12th of April as the International Day of Human Space Flight." For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast