Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968, left), Soviet cosmonaut and first man in space, and Sergei Korolev (1907-1966, right), Soviet rocket engineer. Gagarin made the first manned space flight on 12 April 1961, in the Vostok 1 spacecraft designed by Korolev. He orbited the Earth once during a flight that lasted 1 hour and 48 minutes. Gagarin became a hero in the Soviet Union and famous worldwide. He later returned to active service as a test pilot, dying in a crash during a training flight in 1968. Korolyov was the chief Soviet rocket designer in the 1950s and 1960s, working on several spacecraft including the Vostok one used by Gagarin. Photographed in 1966.