For more than five decades, humans have been suiting up and riding rockets to escape the bonds of Earth, but the anniversary of that historic first flight — which blasted off 51 years ago this week— ...

On April 12, 1961, a human went to space for the first time! Yuri Gagarin was the first Soviet cosmonaut and the first person to orbit the Earth. This was the Soviet Union's next big move in the ...

On April 12, 1961 the first human flew in space. “I see Earth! It is so beautiful!" said 27-year old Yuri Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut who was chosen among thousands for the mission. The flight ...

It's 50 years since the first manned spaceflight. April 12, 2011 — -- Yuri Gagarin. First man in space. For the rest of history his name will rank -- perhaps with Columbus, Magellan, Marco Polo ...

MOSCOW, Russia — Crushed into the pilot's seat by heavy G-forces, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin saw flames outside his spacecraft and prepared to die. His voice broke the tense silence at ground ...

Fifty years ago on April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space, ushering in the era of human spaceflight. The rocket carrying Gagarin's Vostok 1 spacecraft blasted ...

Fifty-five years ago today, the first human ever traveled in space. Russian cosmonaut — the astronaut version for the Russian Space Agency — Yuri Gagarin was only 27 when he made his historic ...

In 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, but the full story of his return to Earth was quietly rewritten by Soviet officials. Decades later, declassified details revealed how close the ...

Fifty years ago this month, a young Russian military pilot, standing just 5’2” tall and wearing a comically over-sized helmet that would later become an icon, was strapped into a capsule atop the ...

MOSCOW, Russia — Crushed into the pilot's seat by heavy G-forces, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin saw flames outside his spacecraft and prepared to die. His voice broke the tense silence at ground ...