Yury Gagarin (1934-1968), Soviet cosmonaut and first man in space, in the cockpit of a Vickers Viscount airliner belonging to British European Airways (BEA). Gagarin made the first manned space flight on 12 April 1961. He orbited the Earth once in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, a flight that lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. Gagarin became a hero in the Soviet Union and famous worldwide. He later returned to active service as a test pilot, dying in a crash during a training flight in 1968. His ashes were interred with full military honors in the Kremlin Wall. Photographed in July 1961.