On the 12th of April 1961 man took a momentous step forward in space exploration. A young Russian Cosmonaut by the name of Yuri Gagarin sat inside a cramped capsule in a Soviet base in Kazakhstan, below him lay a 30 meter booster rocket which would repel him into orbit around Earth and into the record books.

As the rocket launched Gagarin apparently said “here we go”, the cosmonaut had no control over the craft but was able to communicate with mission controllers using a high frequency radio.

Gagarin spent a total of 108 minutes in space, making one complete orbit of the planet. The cosmonaut commented “I can see the Earth's horizon. It has a beautiful blue halo. The sky is black. I can see stars - a pretty fantastic view.”

The mission wasn’t without its drama, the service module failed to separate from Gargarin’s capsule, mission controllers held their breath as both capsules re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere still attached. Gagarin recalls almost losing consciousness as the craft was spun around and temperatures inside began to rise. At 7,000 feet he bailed out and parachute landed safely near the Volga river.

The voyage caused a sensation around the world and instantly made Gagarin an international celebrity. Tragically his life was cut short just seven years later when he died in a plane crash aged 34.

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