First man in space. On 12 April 1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space when he orbited the Earth once during a 108 minute flight. In 1960 Gagarin, a fighter pilot, was shortlisted for the Vostok 1 programme, which built on the success of Sputnik 1 just three years earlier. German Titov was Gagarin's closest rival for selection-both men tried to impress space programme director Sergei Korolev.