April 12, 1961 – Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space. The Soviet Cosmonaut was 27 years old when the spacecraft Vostok 1 launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Gagarin was in space for 108 minutes, becoming the first man to orbit the earth, before landing in Kazakhstan. For his historic flight, Gagarin was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s highest honor.
This flight was a major break for the Soviet Union in the Space Race against the US. The Vostok programme was a followup to Sputnik 1, the first satellite in space. After Sputnik, both the US and the USSR wanted to be the first to put a man in space. Following several test flights, the Vostok 1 took Yuri Gagarin to space and made history. There were 6 Vostok missions in total.
Read more about Yuri Gagarin’s historic mission and the Space Race.
