Original: Out of the twenty selected , the eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov because of their performance in training , as well as their physical characteristics â '' space was at a premium in the small Vostok cockpit and both men were rather short .
Simplified: Out of the twenty selected , the choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov because of their performance in training , as well as their physical well being .