Yuri Gagarin's single orbit of Earth 50 years ago this month ushered in the era of human spaceflight. Gagarin's 108-minute flight was another major propaganda coup for the Soviet Union, which had successfully launched the first satellite - Sputnik - in 1957. Read more
Yuri Gagarin: Memories of first spaceman's UK tour
A metal fence around Manchester airport did not stop young Fred Garner from catching a glimpse of the man everyone was talking about in late 1961 - the first cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin. Read more
A statue is to be erected in London to mark the achievements of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. The zinc-alloy figure will sit just off The Mall, next to Admiralty Arch. Gagarin made history on 12 April 1961 when he circled the Earth in 108 minutes in his Vostok capsule. Read more
Yuri Gagarin's niece Tamara Filatova recalls the day her uncle became the first man in space
When Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel in space on 12 April 1961, millions of people marvelled. But one teenager, gazing at the endless sky from a window of a Russian school, was petrified. It was Yuri's niece, Tamara Filatova, who was 14 at the time. Read more
The Vostok capsule that carried Yuri Gagarin - the world's first spaceman - into orbit on April 12 1961 looked nothing like the sleek craft Buck Rogers used to travel the cosmos in science-fiction fantasies. It had two tiny windows; Gagarin did not need to see where he was going since he had little control over his craft. Read more
Fifty years ago on April 12, with a stirring cry of "Let's Go!" (Poekhali), cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin raced on a Soviet rocket to become the first human to go into outer space. Launching in the Vostok spacecraft from Kazakhstan at 9.06 a.m. that radiant sunny day in 1961, the 27-year-old son of a carpenter circled the Earth once on a 108-minute space flight before parachuting safely to the ground in the Saratovregion of the U.S.S.R. Read more
An appeal has been launched for people that met Yuri Gagarin, or were inspired by his visit to the UK in July 1961, to share their memories and pictures online. The appeal is part of YuriGagarin50, a campaign to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight in the UK. Read more
On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to leave the planet, as the space race took a huge leap forward. Having blasted off from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, Gagarin spent approximately 108 minutes orbiting the Earth before returning to the planet. Read more