Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) was a Soviet cosmonaut and the first human to fly in space. Gagarin flew into space aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. He made one orbit of the earth during this space flight.

Gagarin tried out for the six-week cosmonaut screening process in 1960. He had 230 hours of flying experience with 19 others. Of these 20 men, 12 eventually completed the space flights.

At 9:07 AM, Vostok 1 lifted off for its 108-minute flight. During his one orbit around the earth, he ate and drank (no one had ever done this in weightlessness before), monitored the capsule’s systems, and evaluated his ability to observe features on the earth (he had no camera). The capsule’s control panels were locked, since everything was either automatic or controlled from the ground, but Gagarin had the code to unlock the controls in a sealed envelope in case there was an emergency. Vostok 1 landed in a field near Saratov, observed only by cows and a few farmers. Gagarin actually bailed out of Vostok 1 at an altitude of about 6 km (about 4 mi) and descended under a parachute separately from the capsule.

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