The Vostok booster leaves the Baikonur launch pad No. 1, carrying Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin towards Earth orbit on 12 April 1961. Gagarin (1934-1968) made the first manned space flight, orbiting the Earth once in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, in 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. His ashes were interred with full military honors in the Kremlin Wall.