First Man In Space

April 12, 1961 marked a landmark day for the former Soviet Union as the first man was lifted to the space aboard the spacecraft called Vostok. Yuri Gagarin's flight to space followed another milestone: October 1957 launch of Sputnik, the world's first manmade satellite. Gagarin, then 27, stayed in space for 108 minutes. Twenty-three days later, on May 5, 1961, Mr. Alan Shepard became the first American, he second cosmonaut, to go in space and spent 15 minutes. However, John Glenn on Feb 20, 1962 achieved the feat of the first globe-trotting U.S. cosmonaut following the streak of Gagarin. However, Gagarin's adventure in space spurred U.S. to multiply its effort and enthusiasm in space research that would ultimately lead to lunar landing on July 20, 1969.