Cosmonauts and the collective consciousness

On April 12^th 1961 Yuri Gargarin became the first man to escape his earthly shackles and venture into the final frontier. While orbiting the Earth, Gargarin proclaimed to the world, that he saw “…no god up here”. In order to reach a deeper understanding of the impact these words, it is crucial to examine the wide context of the socio-religious situation in the USSR at that time. Although outwardly the regime was militantly atheist, internally the USSR still had many orthodox Christians. Gargarin, along with many of his Cosmonaut compatriots found themselves becoming the saints of Soviet atheism. However I am more interested in Gherman Titov, the second soviet in space, who followed in the physical and ideological steps of Yuri Gargarin by stating:

 “Some people say there is a God out there, but in my travels around the Earth all day long, I looked around. I did not see him. I saw no God. I saw no angels… I do not believe in God. I believe in man, his strength, his possibilities, his reason”

 - Gherman Titov, 1961

Gherman Titov.

Although Titov was far more than just the second Soviet in space, he was also the first man to spend more than a day in space, as well as, being the first man to manually photograph, and film the Earth from space.  Records claim that he was also the first man to vomit in space.  However, Titov’s account of space, although equally as atheistic as Gargarin’s, he allowed for more room to think, therefore I feel this makes this quote worth unpacking.

The core message of the quote is one of humanism, and it highlights the power of man and his ability to take control of his own destiny. These themes were prevalent throughout much of the 1960’s, as it is the belief that we have control of our destinies that spawned so many protest groups and counter culture groups in the western world.  In turn, it was this belief that helped to motivated the civil rights campaign and It was this belief that drove the space race.

Of course, there was an ideological motivator to the space race, the story you often hear is the USA and Liberal Democracy Vs. The USSR and Communism. However, I feel this rivalry pushes the bounds of human possibly forward, thus helping us to achieve greatness. This fed into the collective consciousness of the 60’s, driving this belief that we have control and that anything is possibly. It must be noted that this was a global phenomenon as supposed to a western one. Therefore, it is important to remember that those cosmonauts who find themselves with little mention in western history books, were the brave men and women who achieved many firsts in the space race. It was these firsts that accelerated the imagination of a generation to the moon and beyond.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

- Jack Cerullo :)