Last Updated on June 10, 2025 by Matt Staff
In 1961, a young Soviet pilot named Yuri Gagarin made history as the first person to travel into space. His spacecraft, Vostok 1, completed a single orbit of Earth in just under two hours, forever changing our understanding of what was possible. Gagarin’s achievement wasn’t just a scientific milestone; it was a moment that captured the world’s attention. With his easy smile and quiet confidence, he became an icon not only of the space race but of human curiosity and ambition.
From candid shots during training to public appearances after his flight, these images reveal glimpses of Gagarin’s personality and the world he moved through. Long before space travel became routine, he stood at the edge of the unknown, and these photos remind us of the courage it took to take that first step beyond our planet. Here are 20 vintage photos of the first man who went to space.
1. Yuri Gagarin trained for 11 years to go to space
2. Yuri Gagarin engaging in morning exercises, 1963
3. Yuri in his space suit, 1961
4. Yuri Gagarin with his Daughter before going to space, 1960s
5. Yuri, after landing at Engels airbase
6. Yuri Gagarin relaxing before his trip to space
7. Yuri Gagarin and the Matra-Bonnet Djet V gifted to him by the French, 1965
8. Yuri celebrating the one-year anniversary of being in space
9. This photo truly humanizes Yuri Gagarin
10. Yuri visiting wounded soldiers in Cuba, 1961
11. Scientists monitoring Yuri from the mission control center, 1961
12. Working on a sculpture for Yuri Gagarin, 1962
13. Fidel Castro with Yuri Gagarin, 1961
14. The first image after Yuri landed back on Earth
15. Cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Alexei Leonov at a costume party in 1965
16. Yuri and his wife, 1957
17. Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova, the first man and woman in space
18. Yuri when he got to see his wife and daughter after landing, 1961
19. Yuri in a debrief after landing at Engels Air Base, 1961
20. Yuri on April 12, 1961
Want to see more 1960s content?
Check out 20 Reasons Life Was Different In The 1960s, or take a look at 23 Vintage Photos Of College Life In The 1960s. Finally, if you want to see what road trips were like in the ’60s, check out 25 Vintage Photos Of Road Trips In the 1960s and 1970s.
