Gagarin and Vostok 1 landing site. Artwork showing Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968, lower right) and the Vostok 1 spacecraft' descent module (lower left) at its landing site in the Saratov region of Russia. Gagarin is wearing the spacesuit he wore during his historic spaceflight on 12 April 1961. Vostok 1 carried Gagarin into Earth orbit as the first human in space, circling the Earth once in a flight that lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. During re-entry, the descent module separated from the rest of the spacecraft. Gagarin ejected 7 kilometres up. Both cosmonaut and descent module deployed parachutes, descending safely to the ground.