Ever since childhood I haven't liked to wait. Especially when I know things are going to be difficult or dangerous. Better to meet it head on rather than shirk or put it off. On my first jump I pushed off from the side of the plane the way I was taught by my flight instructor and hurled into the abyss. Then I pulled the ring but the chute didn't open. I wanted to shout - I couldn't: the air had taken my breath away. My hand started groping - the emergency chute. Where was it?
Then, a big stiff jerk. I felt as if the hand of God had pulled my soul like a puppet masters. Up. And that was it. I was rocking back and forth in the sky under a white heavenly canvas. It had opened. I had been too anxious.
So that was my big lesson. When you're jettisoning through an abyss, trust technology.
(From Survival in Space, Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Lebedev).
