1961-04-12 USSR Vostok 1

Soviet commemorative cover with a cachet honoring Gagarin's Vostok 1 flight with a red Moscow postmark on April 12, 1961. Signed by Yuri Gagarin, the first man to orbit the Earth. - RRAuction
Since the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union in 1957, both the Soviet Union and the United States were engaged in a race for spaceflight achievement, particularly in launching the first human spaceflight. The Soviet Union secretly pursued the Vostok programme in competition with the United States' Project Mercury. Vostok launched several precursor uncrewed missions between May 1960 and March 1961, to test and develop the Vostok rocket family and space capsule. These missions had varied degrees of success, but the final two — Korabl-Sputnik 4 and Korabl-Sputnik 5 — were complete successes, allowing the first crewed flight.

Photo: Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel into space.
On April 12, 1961, the world's first manned space mission, Vostok 1, was launched by the Soviet Union. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the pilot of Vostok 1, became the first human to reach orbital velocity around the Earth and to complete a full orbit around the Earth. The Vostok 1 capsule was designed to carry a single cosmonaut and the entire mission was controlled by either automatic systems or by ground control. The orbital spaceflight consisted of a single orbit around Earth which skimmed the upper atmosphere at 169 kilometers (91 nautical miles) at its lowest point. Gagarin parachuted to the ground separately from his capsule after ejecting at 7 km (23,000 ft) altitude. The entire flight took 1 hour 48 minutes from launch to landing.

Vostok 1 Kniga cover with black Moscow postmark 12 April 1961, signed by Yuri Gagarin on a KNIGA cover.
Photo signed by Yuri Gagarin.
Photo: Interior of the Vostok 1 capsule.
Vostok 1 cover with red Kiev special postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: Yuri Gagarin at launching site. These photos were released on April 15, 1961, few days after the Vostok 1 flight.
Vostok 1 cover with black Kiev special postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: Yuri Gagarin's space flight itinerary on April 12, 1961.
Vostok 1 postal cover with black Kiev special postmark, April 12, 1961. This cover was postmarked at Kiev (Киев) post office on 12 April 1961 and received at Kaluga (Калуга) on April 16, 1961
Photo: Yuri Gagarin and Premier Nikita Khrushchev waving to crowd at Moscow airport, April 14, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with Vinnitza postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: "GAGARIN JOINS APPLAUSE FOR HIMSELF AT PRESS CONFERENCE IN MOSCOW. Spaceman, left, before bust of Lenin. On right A. N. Nesmeyanov, president of the Soviet Academy of Science. Gagarin wasn't specific about his trip or his ship." AP Wirephoto, April 16, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with Frounze postmark, April 12, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with Perm postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: Yuri Gagarin at news conference on April 15, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with Krasnodar postmark, April 12, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with Sverdlovsk postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: Yuri Gagarin was presented a medal at the news conference in Moscow on April 15, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with special Minsk postmark, April 12, 1961.
Vostok 1 cover with Vinnitza postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: "Holding a British Interplanetary medal, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin offered his hosts a big grin Tuesday in London. Gagarin said at a news conference that he would like to visit the United States but "I have not been invited." - UPI Radiotelephoto (July 12, 1961)"
Yuri Gagarin post card with Vinnitza postmark, April 12, 1961.
Photo: Yuri Gagarin (right) chats with Dr. A.C.B. Lovell of Jodrell Bank Observatory who tracked the Vostok 1 spacecraft at the time of Gagarin's flight.
Photo: Yuri Gagarin departed for airport after visiting England from July 11 to 15, 1961.
(Reference from Vostok 1)