Celebrating Yuri

There has been a spate of Space related programmes this weekend to mark the 80 years since the birth of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.
There have been plenty of interviews with astronauts, and almost all mentioned the wonder of gazing down on the Earth in all its majestic beauty and just seeing our World with no borders, a sight that had a profound effect on them.  
There was one interview, with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who mentioned something that struck him profoundly and something that i never really considered before, the complete silence.
In our World, there is never complete silence. Even in the dead of night there is the tick of a clock, the distant sound of a car, your partners breathing or even the wind outside, never is there absolute silence.
Gagarin is arguably one of the most famous Russians that ever lived, less arguably he left one of the greatest human legacies, the giant whose shoulders fellow astronauts have stood on ever since.
What had me thinking as i listened to the astronauts from all different countries living and working aboard the International Space Station is that when we cooperate, we can achieve so much more. Neil Armstrong's famous words 'One giant leap for mankind' says it all, it isn't for America or Russia, it's for all of us together.
If we can take the approach and work together in Space to such great effect, why is it so hard to do it down here?