Storiascopio · Era 12 of 12 · lower secondary year 3
The first human in space
1961 · Baikonur (now Kazakhstan) and Earth orbit
In short
On 12 April 1961 the Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard the Vostok 1 capsule. The flight lasted 108 minutes, with one complete orbit of the Earth, climbing to more than 300 kilometres high. At lift-off he called out ‘Poyekhali!’, meaning ‘Let's go!’. To land he ejected from the capsule and came down by parachute, and he became famous all over the world. Two years later Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.
Why it matters It proved that a human being can live and work in space.
Source: ESA, “Yuri Gagarin: first man in space”
Where we are in the era “Today”
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1953Event 5 of 252022
Your turn
Name ______________________ Class ______ Date __________
When did it happen? Find the date at the top and write it here:
Tell it in your own words: what happened?
Draw the scene below.
storiascopio.com/en/event/the-first-human-in-space/ · free worksheet, you may photocopy it for your class