Space and Astronomy Atlas

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Missions and Programs

Vostok Program

Early Crewed Spaceflight Milestone Missions

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The Soviet Union's first human spaceflight program, which placed Yuri Gagarin into a single orbit of Earth aboard Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961, the first human spaceflight in history. Led by chief designer Sergei Korolev, the program flew six crewed missions between 1961 and 1963, including Vostok 6, which carried Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman in space, and demonstrated multi-day flight durations that exceeded the parallel American Project Mercury.

Facts
Mission Type
Crewed low Earth orbit spaceflight program 1
Launch Date
1961-04-12 1
End Date
1963-06-16 1
Date of the launch of Vostok 6, the program's final crewed flight.
Outcome
Successful; six crewed missions flown, achieving the first human spaceflight and the first spaceflight by a woman, and proving multi-day orbital endurance ahead of the American Mercury and Gemini programs. 1
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Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Vostok programme, lead section
Quote, Wikipedia: Vostok programme, lead section
It succeeded in placing the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin, in a single orbit in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961.
View the Source
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Vostok programme, mission listView the Source
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