Yuri Gagarin: First Human in Space
![Yuri Gagarin on his way to the launch pad.](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1961_april_yuri_gagarin.jpg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
April 9, 2018
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On April 12, 1961, the era of human spaceflight began when the Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth in his Vostock I spacecraft. The flight lasted 108 minutes.
![Front page of the Huntsville Times: Man Enters Space](https://science.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Front_page_of_the_Huntsville_Times__Man_Enters_Space_-1.jpeg?w=4096&format=jpeg)
Front page of the Huntsville, Ala., Times on April 12, 1961.