The Soviet Union became the first nation to send a human into space with Yuri Gagarin’s 1961 flight.
Gagarin launched aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. His spacecraft completed one orbit of Earth in a flight lasting 108 minutes from launch to landing, making him the first human to travel into outer space and orbit Earth.
The mission was a major Soviet achievement during the Space Race, the technological and political competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. Gagarin’s call sign was “Cedar,” and his radio greeting “Poyekhali!” is often translated as “Let’s go!”
The flight differed from later human space missions because the spacecraft’s reentry and landing systems were not designed for Gagarin to remain inside until touchdown; he ejected and parachuted separately. April 12 is commemorated in Russia as Cosmonautics Day.