MOSCOW (AP) — Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space 60 years ago. Gagarin’s steely self-control was a key factor behind the success of his pioneering 108-minute spaceflight. His April 12, 1961, mission encountered glitches and emergencies, from the capsule’s entry hatch failing to shut properly just before blastoff to a parachute misfire in the final moments before touchdown. The successful one-orbit flight made the 27-year-old Gagarin a national hero and cemented Soviet supremacy in space until the United States put a man on the moon more than eight years later. By then, Gagarin had died in a training jet crash.
Soviet cosmonaut made pioneering spaceflight 60 years ago
