Yuri Gagarin — First Human in Space
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to journey into outer space, completing one orbit of the Earth aboard Vostok 1.
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a 27-year-old former foundry worker and fighter pilot, became the first human being to travel to outer space. Aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft, Gagarin completed a single orbit of the Earth in 108 minutes, reaching a maximum altitude of 327 km. As the rocket launched, he exclaimed "Poyekhali!" ("Let's go!"). The flight was entirely automated — Soviet engineers were unsure how weightlessness would affect human cognition — though Gagarin carried a sealed envelope with a manual override code. He ejected from the capsule at 7 km altitude and parachuted to a field near the Volga River, where he was met by a bewildered farmer and her daughter. Gagarin became an instant global celebrity and a symbol of Soviet technological achievement.
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