Vostok 1

Vostok 1 was the first manned space mission. On April 12, 1961, Vostok 1 took Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin into space, the first time anyone had ever journeyed beyond the earth's atmosphere. Gagarin orbited the Earth one time in 108 minutes and returned unharmed, ejecting from the Vostok capsule 7 km above the ground and parachuting separately to the ground (the capsule's parachute landing was too rough for cosmonauts to risk it at the time).

The re-entry capsule is now on display at the RKK Energia Museum[?] in Kaluga[?].

Next Vostok mission - Vostok 2