360Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space
On 12 April 1961, the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth once in the spacecraft Vostok 1, becoming the first human in space. The flight lasted 108 minutes. As he lifted off, he said, 'Poyekhali!', meaning 'Let's go!' His journey opened the era of human spaceflight.
Yuri Gagarin was a 27-year-old Soviet air force pilot chosen from thousands of candidates. On the morning of 12 April 1961, he was launched from the Baikonur site aboard Vostok 1.
The spacecraft completed one orbit of the Earth, reaching a height of more than 300 kilometres. Gagarin reported on how the Earth looked from space and showed that a person could eat, drink and work in weightlessness.
After re-entry, Gagarin ejected from the capsule as planned and landed by parachute in a field near the Volga River, where a farmer and her daughter were the first to greet him.
Gagarin became a world-famous hero. A month later, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Since 2011, the United Nations has marked 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight.
- 12 April 1961
- Vostok 1 flight
- 5 May 1961
- Alan Shepard's flight
- 1963
- Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space
- 2011
- UN names 12 April International Day of Human Space Flight
Sources: NASA · European Space Agency · Britannica.