Fifty years ago, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space.
Gagarin launched into orbit in the Vostok 1 spacecraft on 12 April, 1961 at the Baikonur rocket launch pad, becoming the first man to complete a round-the-Earth circuit.
On 12 April, 1961, Russian cosmonaut and fighter pilot Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, completing an orbit of the Earth in his Vostock 1 spacecraft |  |
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 Pictured above is the launch of the Vostok 1 rocket carrying Gagarin to an altitude of 200 miles. Gagarin, a fighter pilot by training, did not have anything to do with steering the craft. Soviet scientists, concerned about possible physiological effects of spaceflight on a pilot's judgement, locked the onboard controls. Upon re-entry, Gagarin ejected from the Vostok at an altitude of 20,000 feet and parachuted safely to Earth. The craft also landed by parachute nearby. Photo credit: Nasa |  The Gagarin flight concentrated the US's attention on the lagging performance of its own space programme. In this picture, obviously unhappy Nasa officials hold a press conference at Nasa Headquarters in Washington, DC to respond to questions. From left to right: Dr Robert C Seamans Jr, associate administrator; Dr Hugh L Dryden, deputy administrator; Mr James E Webb, administrator; and Dr Abe Silverstein, director of Space Flight Programmes. In May 1961, Alan B Shepard Jr became the first American to make a spaceflight in a craft dubbedFreedom 7. Photo credit: Nasa |
 Pictured above is the Vostok 1 capsule used by Yuri Gagarin, now on display at the RKK Energiya Museum near Moscow. On Tuesday, to mark the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, auction house Sotheby's will offer the Vostok 3KA-2 space capsule in a dedicated auction. Vostok 3KA-2 blasted into space on 25 March, 1961, carrying a life-size cosmonaut mannequin, nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, and the dog Zvezdochka (Russian for Little Star), paving the way for Gagarin's historic mission weeks later. The capsule is estimated to fetch between $2m (1.2m) and $10m. Photo credit: SiefkinDR/Wikimedia Commons  |  A Russian Soyuz TMA-21 rocket blasts off from a Russian-leased Kazakh Baikonur cosmodrome on 5 April, 2011. The rocket carried an international space crew consisting of US astronaut Ron Garan, and Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyayev and Andrei Borisenko to the International Space Station(ISS). The launch came seven days shy of the anniversaries of Gagarin's flight into orbit in 1961 from the same launch pad, as well as the first flight of the US space shuttle 20 years later. Speaking to reporters prior to the launch, Garan noted how much space flight has changed since Gagarin's mission during the Cold War. "50 years ago, one nation launched one man, basically as a competition," he said. "Today, the three of us represent the many nations of the international partnership that makes up the International Space Station." Photo credit: Roscosmos PAO/Yuzhny Space Center This story originally appeared as Yuri Gagarin: First man in space on CBS News. |
