 The first human to orbit Earth was Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961 . In total , about 487 people have visited outer space and reached orbit as of 30 July 2010 , and , of these , twelve have walked on the Moon . Normally , the only humans in space are those on the International Space Station . The station 's crew , made up of six people , is usually replaced every six months . The farthest that humans have travelled from Earth is 400 @,@ 171 km , achieved during the Apollo 13 mission in 1970 . 
