The launch of the Vostok 1 rocket carrying Gagarin to an altitude of 200 miles. But Gagarin, a fighter pilot by training, did not have anything to do with steering the craft. Soviet scientists, concerned about possible physiological effects of spaceflight on a pilot's judgment, had locked the onboard controls. Upon reentry, Gagarin ejected from the Vostok at an altitude of 20,000 feet and parachuted safely to Earth.

The news of the Soviet success was a major propaganda coup for the U.S.S.R. in its Cold War duel with the United States. Following on the heels of the Sputnik a few years earlier, the Soviets had clearly taken the lead.

Yuri Gagarin poses with cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to fly in space, wave to well-wishers somewhere in Soviet Union in 1963. Tereshkova was the sole crew member of the 3-day Vostok 6 spaceship flight 16 June 1963.

The Gagarin flight concentrated the U.S.'s attention on the lagging performance of its own space program. In this picture, obviously unhappy NASA officials held a press conference at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC to respond to questions. From left to right: Dr. Robert C. Seamans Jr., Associate Administrator; Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, Deputy Administrator; Mr. James E. Webb, Administrator; and Dr. Abe Silverstein, Director of Space Flight Programs.

Alan B. Shepard Jr. waits atop a Redstone rocket before the launch in his cramped space capsule dubbed "Freedom 7." Shephard became the first American to make a spaceflight on May 5, 1961. In 1972 he walked on the moon as commander of the Apollo 14 mission.

In this June 1965 photo, Gagarin is pictured shaking hands with NASA's Gemini 4 astronauts, Edward H. White II and James A. McDivitt at the Paris International Air Show in June 1965. This first meeting between Gagarin and the Gemini 4 astronauts occurred shortly after the completion of the Gemini 4 mission. Also shown in the picture (seated) are Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey and (standing) French Premier Georges Pompidou.

Gagarin died tragically when when his MIG jet crashed during a training flight on March 27, 1968. He was given a hero's funeral and his ashes were interred in the Kremlin Wall.

The Vostok 3KA-2, a 1961 Soviet space capsule is on display at Sotheby's in New York, February 24, 2011. Vostok 3KA-2 blasted into space on 25 March 25, 1961, carrying a life-size cosmonaut mannequin, nicknamed Ivan Ivanovich, and the dog Zvezdochka (Russian for Little Star), which paved the way for Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's historic mission on April 12, 1961 to become the first man in outer space. Sotheby's will offer the Vostok 3KA-2 Space Capsule in a dedicated auction April 12, 2011, the 50th anniversary of man's first flight into outer space, with an estimate of $2 million to $10 million

A Russian Soyuz TMA-21 rocket with an international space crew of a US astronaut Ron Garan, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Samokutyayev and Andrei Borisenko blasts off from a Russian leased Kazakh Baikonur cosmodrome to the International Space Station on April 5, 2011.

Tuesday's launch was seven days shy of the anniversaries of Gagarin's flight into orbit in 1961 from the same launch pad as well as the first flight of the U.S. space shuttle 20 years later. Speaking to reporters prior to the emotion-laden launch, Garan noted how much space flight has changed since Gagarin was launched during the space race between the two Cold War superpowers. "Fifty years ago, one nation launched one man, basically as a competition," he said. "Today, the three of us represent the many nations of the international partnership that makes up the International Space Station."

A municipal worker hangs a poster depicting Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut, in the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, March 29, 2011.