The first human space flight was a historic milestone that marked the beginning of the space age. It happened on April 12, 1961, when Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
Gagarin's flight took about 108 minutes from takeoff to landing. It lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:07 am (local time). During its journey, it circled the Earth once at a maximum altitude of about 327 kilometers.
Gagarin became a national and international hero after his historic flight, and his name is associated with the success of the Soviet space program. His famous in-flight comment, “The Earth is blue,” became an iconic phrase that captured the unique perspective of seeing the planet from space.
This historic milestone not only demonstrated the Soviet Union's ability to carry out human space missions, but also sparked the Cold War space competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. This competitive period led to major advances in space exploration, including NASA's Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.
