I didn't think this had to be said, but he strapped his a** to a giant gas can and rode it up past the atmosphere, into an environment that could easily have killed him if anything went wrong–and since no one had ever done it before, they didn't know what might go wrong.
wilde_space says
The first human to orbit the Earth.
Justin K says
He was the first man to visit outer space. He's a hero to the human race, not just the Soviets.
Leon B says
I didn't think this had to be said, but he strapped his a** to a giant gas can and rode it up past the atmosphere, into an environment that could easily have killed him if anything went wrong–and since no one had ever done it before, they didn't know what might go wrong.