Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to enter outer space on April 12, 1961. The then 27-year-old orbited the Earth aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 1 for an hour and forty-eight minutes at a maximum altitude of 187 miles. The only statement attributed to Gagarin during his time in space was, “Flight is proceeding normally; I am well.”
First man traveled into space 55 years ago
