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Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the first human to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1 , Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961, with his flight taking 108 minutes.
Jun 19, 2024 · Yuri Gagarin, Soviet cosmonaut who on April 12, 1961, became the first man to travel into space. His Vostok 1 spacecraft orbited Earth once in 1 hour 29 minutes at a maximum altitude of 187 miles, bringing Gagarin immediate worldwide fame.
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Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934, in the Soviet Russian village of Klushino to parents who worked on a collective farm, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). Beginning in October 1941, German soldiers occupied Klushino as part of their advance on Moscow during World War II. The occupation lasted 21 months, according to the BBC. In 1946, hi...
"Vostok" means "East" in Russian, as opposed to the Western world, signifying the mission's importance in the Cold War-era space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. The crewed part of the capsule was spherical, with an inside diameter of about 7 feet (2 m), according to The Planetary Society. The spacecraft launched on April 12, 19...
On April 23, 1967, the Soyuz 1 mission launched with cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov as its sole crewmember, with Gagarin as the backup. During the spacecraft's landing, the parachute failed to deploy, instantly killing Komarov when it hit the ground. Though Gagarin had nothing to do with the crash (and even reportedly tried to get the launch postponed ...
You can learn more about the first man in space with these pieces from Scientific American and Astronomy.com. Space Center Houston's on this day in historydetails Gagarin's historic flight to space.
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- Rebecca Sohn
Nov 3, 2023 · Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union was the first human in space, orbiting Earth in Vostok 1 for 108 minutes. He ejected from the spacecraft and landed by parachute, unlike the early US spaceflight programs.
Feb 9, 2010 · On April 12, 1961, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space. During the flight, the 27-year-old test...
- Missy Sullivan
Apr 12, 2021 · It's sixty years since the first human blasted into space.For the Soviet Union, Yuri Gagarin’s single orbit of the Earth was a huge achievement and propagand...
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- BBC News
Apr 9, 2018 · Learn about the historic flight of Yuri Gagarin, who orbited the Earth on April 12, 1961, in his Vostock I spacecraft. See images and news articles from the time of this milestone in human space exploration.
