Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of Uri Gagarin’s historic first space flight, and I just wanted to note this historic event on my blog. It has nothing to do with disability politics or anything, and anyone reading this will probably have known already, but there’s something about space travel which really captures my imagination. I think we forget today how truly monumental that event was: for the first time in human history, someone had broken free of the earth’s gravity. It probably felt like the start of a new era fir mankind, but right now it seems that the adventure has stalled. People just don’t seem so enthused about the prospect of space travel any more. I, however, continue to hope and dream: space travel, I believe, is our destiny, and it is in that spirit and the spirit of this day fifty years ago that I direct you here.