Russian crew members of the 64th long-term expedition to the International Space Station - Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov, Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, Oleg Novitsky and Petr Dubrov - congratulate all earthlings on the holiday, on Cosmonautics Day, Roscosmos reports. Russia marked on Monday (April 12) the 60th anniversary of the first space mission in history by cosmonaut Yury Gagarin.
Gagarin, only 27 years old at the time of his space mission, was the first man to complete humankind's first orbit around the earth, in his 'Vostok 1' rocket.
His space capsule traveled at a speed of 27.400 kilometers per hour, and orbited the earth in 108 minutes. Gagarin gained international fame and was hailed by the Soviet leadership as a national hero.
Gagarin was born in a village in the Smolensk region of Russia and became a jet pilot before he was selected as one of the pioneer cosmonauts on the Soviet space program run by Sergei Korolev.
His successful space mission turned Gagarin into a worldwide popular figure, revered by Russians and peoples of USSR countries who turned up in their thousands to welcome him wherever he went.
Gagarin never flew in space again but worked as a trainer of other cosmonauts in a centre which still bears his name today, in Star City outside Moscow. He died seven years later in a crash at Chkalovsky Air Base, during a training flight on March 27, 1968.