Yuri Gagarin Was 27 When He Went to Space

Archive footage: Yuri Gagarin - first in space!

Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space

A look at the life of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space

On April 12, 1961, aboard the Vostok 1, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space when he orbited the Earth. This was a pivotal moment during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Gagarin's flight led U.S. president John F. Kennedy to raise the stakes in May 1961, by asking Congress to commit to the goal of landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade. For today, Jared letterpress printed an image of a spaceship from a photo