Once a battleground for America and the Soviet Union’s Cold War competition, space flight has been a hothouse for discovery, showboating, and scientific ingenuity. We all stare up at the sky on a clear night and wonder what lies beyond the Earth’s surface, and for over half a century, NASA and the Soviet space program have been sending people and machines into space to explore the great unknown. No longer the stuff of sci-fi films, even smaller countries and private companies are now racing to explore the deep, dark void of space. Hopefully, one day in the not-so-distant future, we can, too. For now, marvelling at the photos of these pivotal moments in our history of space travel will need to suffice.
#1: Yuri Gagarin’s Historic Flight (1961)
In April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting Earth at 27,400 km/h in Vostok 1. His entire mission lasted just 108 minutes, completing one full orbit of the planet. Gagarin didn’t land in the capsule—he ejected at 7 km altitude and parachuted safely to Earth.
