The Earth is blue... how wonderful. It is amazing

The path of a cosmonaut is not an easy, triumphant march to glory. You have to get to know the meaning not just of joy but also of grief, before being allowed in the spacecraft cabin.

I am watching the Earth. The visibility is good. I feel well and cheerful. The machine is functioning normally.

I see Earth! It is so beautiful.

Looking at the earth from afar you realize it is too small for conflict and just big enough for co-operation.

I saw for the first time the earth's shape. I could easily see the shores of continents, islands, great rivers, folds of the terrain, large bodies of water. The horizon is dark blue, smoothly turning to black. . . the feelings which filled me I can express with one word-joy.

When they saw me in my space suit and the parachute dragging alongside as I walked, they started to back away in fear. I told them, don’t be afraid, I am a Soviet like you, who has descended from space and I must find a telephone to call Moscow!