Гагарин - Выступление перед стартом Gagarin: Speech before launch

There are many videos about Gagarin, but few of him speaking. English translation below. Dear friends, close acquaintances and strangers, fellow countrymen, people of all countries of all contintents: in a few minutes a mighty spaceship will carry me into the distant regions of the universe. What can I tell you in these few minutes before launching? All my life seems to me now like one wonderful moment, everything experienced and done earlier was experienced and done for the sake of this minute. You should understand, it’s hard to grasp how I feel as the hour for which we worked so long and hard closely approaches. It’s hardly worth talking about the feelings I experienced when I was chosen to make this historic flight. Joy? No, this wasn’t only joy. Pride? No this wasn’t only pride. I felt immense happiness to be first to enter the cosmos. To enter a face to face, unprecedented challenge with nature. But after this I thought of the immense responsibility laid upon me--first to achiev