Socialism was the launching pad

Cosmonaut Gherman Titov and Hero of Socialist Labor Nikolai Mamai from the Donbas at the Twenty-Second Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1961

The whole world knows that socialism was the launching pad from which spaceships Vostok I and Vostok II were shot. Socialism created the necessary conditions for cosmic flight.

My friends and fellow cosmonauts are getting ready for new ventures. The era of space exploration has only just begun. Yuri Gagarin and I are proud that we were given the honored assignment of ushering it in. But new and more complex flights ahead. More and more Soviet pilots will fly the unexplored routes of space, will study them, will help to unveil nature's secrets so that they can be used for humanity's welfare and in the service of peace. -- Titov in 1961

Gherman Titov was a pioneering Soviet cosmonaut, best known for being the second human to orbit the Earth and the youngest person to fly in space at the age of 25. He became the second human to orbit the Earth on August 6, 1961, aboard Vostok 2, following Yuri Gagarin’s historic flight. His mission lasted more than 25 hours, completing 17 orbits around the planet.

Titov received the title Hero of the Soviet Union, along with two Orders of Lenin, and various medals and international honors. He was also named Hero of Socialist Labor of Bulgaria, Hero of Labour of Vietnam, and Hero of Mongolia. The Titov crater on the Moon's far side and Titov Island in Ha Long Bay bear his name.

After the counterrevolution Titov remained a dedicated Communist. In 1995, he was elected to the State Duma as a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation a position he held until his death in 2000.