Vostok 1
Launch of the Vostok 1 | |
| Operator | Soviet space program |
|---|---|
| Harvard designation | 1961 Mu 1 |
| COSPAR ID | 1961-012A |
| SATCAT no. | 00103 |
| Mission duration | 1 hour, 48 minutes 1 hour, 46 minutes |
| Orbits completed | 1 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Vostok-3KA No.3 |
| Manufacturer | Experimental Design Bureau OKB-1 |
| Launch mass | 4,725 kg (10,417 lb) |
| Landing mass | 2,400 kg (5,290 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2.30 m (7 ft 6.5 in) diameter |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 1 |
| Members | Yuri Gagarin |
| Callsign | Кедр (Kedr, 'Siberian pine'),: 275 or Ласточка (Lastochka, 'Swallow') |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | April 12, 1961, 06:07 UTC |
| Rocket | Vostok-K 8K72K |
| Launch site | Baikonur, Site 1/5 45°55′13″N 63°20′32″E / 45.920278°N 63.342222°E |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | April 12, 1961, 07:55 UTC |
| Landing site | 51°16′14″N 45°59′50″E / 51.270682°N 45.99727°E |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 181 km (112 mi; 98 nmi) |
| Apogee altitude | 327 km (203 mi; 177 nmi) |
| Inclination | 64.95° |
| Period | 89.1 minutes |
| Epoch | April 12, 1961 |
Yuri Gagarin in Sweden | |
Vostok 1 (Russian: Восток, lit. 'East' or 'Orient') was the first spaceflight of the Vostok programme and the first human orbital spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA space capsule was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 12 April 1961, with Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin aboard, making him the first human to reach orbital velocity around the Earth and to complete a full orbit around the Earth.
The orbital spaceflight consisted of a single orbit around Earth which skimmed the upper atmosphere at 169 kilometers (105 miles; 91 nautical miles) at its lowest point. The flight took 108 minutes from launch to landing. Gagarin parachuted to the ground separately from his capsule after ejecting at 7 km (23,000 ft) altitude.