As BBC’s Aviation & Space Correspondent throughout the 1960s, Reg Turnill witnessed the achievements of Gagarin and his contemporaries from the press box. In his paper, he shares his memories of covering Gagarin and Alan Shepard’s flights into space from the contrasting atmospheres at Moscow and Cape Canaveral. He also explores the differing selection processes for the first cosmonaut and first astronaut and shares the challenges of writing about the Soviet side of the space race.

The recording also includes a discussion of Gagarin’s legacy that between Pat Norris, Douglas Barrie, Dr Jeremy Curtis, Reg Turnill and Gerry Webb, together with questions from the audience.

Reg Turnill presented his paper to the RAeS Space Group Conference, Yuri Gagarin’s legacy, 50 years on: securing the vision for the next half century. The event was held on 16 March 2011, the session was chaired by Pat Norris FRAeS & Dr John Hobbs and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.