NASA: First man in Space - Yuri Gagarin 12.04.1961

April 12 was already a huge day in space history twenty years before the launch of the first shuttle mission. On that day in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (left, on the way to the launch pad) became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft. Newspapers like The Huntsville Times (right) trumpeted Gagarin's accomplishment. [more...]
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RT Telelvision: Celebrating a star: 50 years since Gagarin’s spaceflight
A monumental feat is being celebrated across the globe. Fifty years ago, on April 12, 1961, Yury Gagarin blasted off, orbited Earth and made history, becoming the first man in space. ­Before that day mankind could hardly imagine we would one day be able to stare down at our planet from above.
Baikonur cosmodrome witnessed the first-ever successful manned space flight. It was there that 50 years ago cosmonaut Yury Gagarin boarded his Vostok-1 capsule and was launched into space.[more...]


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