Can't we have one thread where we aren't fighting about stupid *bleep*?
Sheesh! The man is dead. Say "rest in peace" or don't. But keep the politics and your malevolent personal feelings out of it.
@Applewood To be honest,heroes who advance the knowledge of mankind at GREAT personal risk by leaping into the unknown,are worth fighting over. I can't even begin to imagine the courage it took for him to get into ANY capsule to leave the bounds of Earth and circle the planet,never mind one build and designed by politically-connected committees in the USSR.
People today are still applauding what Christopher Columbus did when he sailed away from Spain a few hundred years ago,that pales by comparison to the risks this man knowingly took. Yeah,by that time they were pretty sure they could get him into orbit,but getting him back to Earth safely was the big deal.
And given the situations that existed in the USSR at that time,we all knew the Soviets would either keep the whole thing quiet if he didn't make it back,or present another astronaut and claim he was the one that reached Earth orbit and returned to make a safe landing. He knew that,too.
If we can't celebrate heroes who risked it all to advance the knowledge and future of mankind,who IS worth celebrating?