While preparing for the first human-crewed Vostok mission, 27-year-old Yuri Gagarin rose to the top of his class thanks to his memory, reflexes, and poise during a crisis. Gagarin was always calm and ...

CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. The former Soviet Union began manned space flight on April 12, 1961, when they launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit around the Earth aboard ...

Before leaving Earth for the International Space Station (ISS) last April, three smartly dressed spacemen — Oleg Novitsky, Pyotr Dubrov, and Mark Vande Hei — took time from their training to pause for ...

As the Soviet Vostok 1 spaceflight began its descent back to Earth in April of 1961, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin officially became the first human in space. However, in only a matter of seconds, his module ...

The Russians this week took a giant new stride in the race toward the moon. From the Soviet rocketdrome in Central Asia, two manned space capsules rose into orbit around the earth and established ...

It's called the Gagarin. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. The next crew to launch into space will fly on board a vehicle named for ...