On this day in 1962, Yuri Gagarin, the world’s first Spaceman, said that he felt sorry for Colonel John Glenn —who was still waiting for his Space attempt.
He said Colonel Glenn must feel very bad after so many postponements. “I feel sorry for this man,” Major Gagarin added, speaking at a Press conference at the end of a three-day visit to Cyprus.
“ Sitting five hours in a rocket waiting every moment for the launching is not good. It creates psychological nervous tension,” said Gagarin.
Ten times in two months Glenn had prepared to undertake an orbital flight on each occasion to be thwarted by weather or scientific hazards.
“Only after the rocket is sent off should an announcement be made, as in the case of my own flight,” he said. “Our system is better. It is the system of deeds first and words later.”