First Man to Be Sent Into Space

"The sky is very dark; the earth is bluish," reported Yuri Gagarin from his spacecraft.

The first human being ever to travel into outer space was the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. On April 12, 1961, Gagarin's spacecraft, the Vostok 1, reached an altitude of about 200 miles and took him once around the earth.

Significance

Up until the time of Gagarin's flight, the United States and Russia were rivals in a mission to build rockets powerful enough to launch nuclear warheads across the sea, put satellites into orbit, or send people to the moon. He became the first human being to prove that, if rockets could transport weapons across the ocean, they could also transport human beings into space.

Considerations

Gagarin did not control the Vostok 1. The spacecraft completed its flight, which lasted just under two hours, controlled by commands being sent from a computer. All the controls were locked, but Gagarin had a key that would have enabled him to take control of the spacecraft in an emergency.

Background

Yuri Gagarin was born March 9, 1934, in the Russian town of Klushina. He went to technical schools before joining the Russian Air Force, graduating with honors in 1957. As a fighter pilot, he was selected for training as one of the first group of Russian cosmonauts. Gagarin died in the crash of a MIG-15 fighter on March 27, 1968, and was never to complete the second space mission he'd been training for.

References

• APOD: Man Enters Space
• New World Encyclopedia: Gagarin, Yuri
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum