Yuri Gagarin
Space travel began with this Soviet cosmonaut’s leap into the unknown. On April 12, 1961, his Vostok 1 spacecraft orbited Earth at 27,000 km/h during a 108-minute flight. The mission involved serious risks, including a dangerous ejection at 7 kilometers altitude. Gagarin returned a worldwide celebrity but continued test flying. His promising life ended in a 1968 jet crash. His famous words—”I see no God up here”—reflected the Cold War space race’s political dimensions.
