Gagarin's Flight
On 12th April 1961 Major Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin became the first human in space and the first person to orbit the Earth. The Vostok-1 spacecraft blasted off from the Baikonur launch site at 06:07 UTC* (09:07am Moscow time).
Gagarin's flight lasted 108 minutes, this including 89 minutes in space. He completed one orbit of the Earth, travelling at 27,400 kilometres per hour. At the highest point, Gagarin was 327km (203miles) above mean sea level.
For many years it was believed that Gagarin landed inside his capsule. It wasn't until 4 months later, when Gherman Titov (the second man in space) had admitted to ejecting himself from Vostok-2, that there was any investigation that Gagarin had in fact ejected from Vostok-1 and parachuted to the ground. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) delegates decided to redefine the qualifying parameters of human spaceflight to recognize that "the great technological accomplishment of spaceflight was the launch, orbiting and safe return of the human", not the manner in which he or she landed. Therefore, Gagarin remained the First Man in Space and his status as hero of the Soviet Union was unaffected.
| 00:00 UTC | Final testing of the spacecraft begins on the launchpad; Sergei Pavlovich Korolev attends. | More info |
| 02:30 UTC | Yuri Gagarin and Gherman Titov wake and eat Space food for breakfast | More info |
| 02:45 UTC | Gagarin and Titov undergo tests, which they both pass with flying colours | More info |
| 03:00 UTC | A Medical service car arrives at the launch site delivering food for the spacecraft. | More info |
| 03:00 UTC | Gherman Titov suits up | More info |
| 03:20 UTC | Gagarin suits up. He and Titov are taken to the launch site | More info |
| 03:50 UTC | Gagarin records his speech to the nation | More info |
| 04:00 UTC | Yuri and Korolev go through pre flight checks. | More info |
| 04:10 UTC | Yuri Gagarin's voice is aired to the nation | More info |
| 05:10 UTC | 50 minute alert | More info |
| 05:30 UTC | 30 minutue alert. Titov is told he can now take off his suit and go to the observatory. | More info |
| 05:50 UTC | Hatch is closed. 10 minute availability. Gagarin is ready to start. | More info |
| 06:07 UTC | Vostok-1 launches.Yuri Gagarin shouts "POYEKHALI!" ('let's go!') | More info |
| 06:09 UTC | Booster sections shut down and the nose fairing releases. | More info |
| 06:13 UTC | Rocket core stage shuts down | More info |
| 06:14 UTC | Vostok 1 starts to pass over Russia | More info |
| 06:15 UTC | Gagarin begins to lose radio contact with Zarya-1 | More info |
| 06:17 UTC | The Final stages shut down. Vostok 1 reaches orbit | More info |
| 06:21 UTC | Gagarin can see the North Pacific ocean | More info |
| 06:22 UTC | Radio signals from Vostok-1 are picked up on the American Radar Station | More info |
| 06:25 UTC | 6 minutes in orbit, Gagarin asks Zarya-3 for orbital parametres. | More info |
| 06:31 UTC | Gagarin is reaching the VHF radio horizon - soon to be out of radio range. | More info |
| 06:37 UTC | Entry into eclipse | More info |
| 06:42 UTC | Gagarin passes over the North Pacific near the equator | More info |
| 06:48 UTC | Vostok 1 crosses the Equator. Communication is by HF radio | More info |
| 06:49 UTC | Gagarin reports he is on the dark side of the Earth | More info |
| 06.51 UTC | Gagarin switches on sun seeking altitude | More info |
| 06:53 UTC | Khabarovsk Ground Station tell Gagarin he is in a stable orbit | More info |
| 06:57 UTC | Over South Pacific between New Zealand and Chile. | More info |
| 06:57 UTC | Gagarin is annouced as MAJOR YURI GAGARIN | More info |
| 07:00 UTC | News of mission is broadcast on Radio Moscow. | More info |
| 07:07 UTC | Status message was not received by ground stations. | More info |
| 07:10 UTC | Entry into sunlight | More info |
| 07:12 UTC | Over the South Atlantic Ocean | More info |
| 07:13 UTC | News of the first man in space is sent out to the World - TASS report. Status message sent by Gagarin is not received by ground stations. | More info |
| 07:17 UTC | Status message sent by Gagarin is not received by ground stations. | More info |
| 07:22 UTC | Status message sent by Gagarin is not received by ground stations. | More info |
| 07:25 UTC | Vostok 1's fires retros for 42 seconds | More info |
| 07:25 +10 | Commands sent to separate the service module. Separation fails. | More info |
| 07:26 UTC | Re-entry module and Service module begin a bumpy re-entry | More info |
| 07:35 UTC | Service Module wires burn through, separation complete | More info |
| 07:37 UTC | Vostok-1 is over Egypt | More info |
| 07:55 UTC | Vostok-1 capsule lands near Saratov | More info |
| 08:05 UTC | Yuri Gagarin lands | More info |
| Announcement is made that Yuri Gagarin has landed safely | More info |
*UTC - Coordinated Universal Time (GMT can be classed as the equivalent, when fractions of a second are not important)
Image references:
Photographs courtesy of RIA Novosti – Contact Ralph Gibson: photos@novosti.co.uk, Illustrations courtesy of Vix Southgate
Many thanks go to Vix Southgate for researching and assembling this timeline.