First Manned Space Missions

Sixty-five years ago, the first humans from the planet Earth ventured into outer space. Yuri Gagarin orbited the Earth one time in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. He was followed by Alan Shepard, who flew a 15-minute suborbital flight on May 5, 1961. For more on this, see: “First Humans in Space.” FAS Astronomers Blog. May 2021.

• “Yuri Gagarin: First Human in Space.” NASA.
• “Remembering Yuri Gagarin 50 Years Later.” NASA.
• “Alan B. Shepard, Jr.” NASA.
• “Mercury-Redstone 3: Freedom 7.” NASA.
• “Who Was Alan Shepard? (Grades 5-8).” NASA.
• “Alan Shepard Becomes the First American in Space.” NASA.
• “Project Mercury.” FAS Astronomers Blog.
• “Project Gemini.” FAS Astronomers Blog.
• “Project Apollo.” FAS Astronomers Blog.