April 12th, 1961, became a turning point in human history. That day Yuri Gagarin who would soon be a national hero, made the first-ever space flight and started a new, space era. Nobody is surprised with space flights today, while then it was a world event! This year celebrates the 60th anniversary of the glorious deed!

Here are some facts:

• The mission lasted 108 minutes.
• The speed of the flight around the Earth was 28,260 km/h, and the flight lasted less than one hour and a half.
• Spaceship Vostok-1 made one not full round at the maximum height of 327 km.
• The task of the first cosmonaut ever was to make one circle around the Earth and prove than a human being can survive in the space inside a specially equipped vessel.
• During the flight, Yuri Gagarin was keeping contact with the Earth. He reported his health, location, system operation, and did very simple experiments.
• Even the basic things like eating are done differently in zero gravity. For example, making notes, Gagarin mentioned that it was impossible to keep the pencil at hand. The same with other objects. So he concluded that everything on board had to be tied up or somehow fixed.
• The cosmonaut recorded his thoughts and feelings with the onboard tape recorder.