Cosmonaut: Yuri A. Gagarin [1]
Backup: Gherman S. Titov
Date: 12 April 1961
    Launch Time: 06:07 UTC
    Launch Location: Baikonur Cosmodrone, Kazakhstan
    Landing Time: 07:55 UTC
    Landing Location: Southwest of Engels, Saratov region (Russia)
Orbits: 1
Duration: 1 hour, 48 minutes
Call Sign: Kedr (Cedar)

Yuri Gagarin was the first man to fly in space. He ejected from Vostok about 20 minutes before landing, a fact hidden by the Soviet government because it was required (by F.A.I. rules) that a pilot was to remain in his craft from launch to landing to qualify as a space flight. All of the Vostok capsules landed too hard for a pilot to remain on board.

It has been claimed that if the rules had been adhered to, the U.S. would have had the first man in space and the first man in orbit. (Editor's note: These claims sound like "sour grapes"!)