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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/aero-gagarin-first-orbit

Who was the first human to orbit Earth?

Yuri Gagarin completed the first human orbital flight.

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  1. Alan Shepard
  2. John Glenn
  3. Yuri Gagarin ✔

Why: Gagarin's April 1961 mission carried the first person into Earth orbit. Alan Shepard became the first American in space less than a month later.

Huh, didn't know that: John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth in February 1962.

The dad joke
Gagarin took one lap and made it a world first.
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References

Answer: Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin's April 1961 mission carried the first person into Earth orbit. Alan Shepard became the first American in space less than a month later.

  1. Aerospace Dimensions Module 4, Rockets akwg.cap.gov/media/cms/Module_4__Rockets_6660F78F20B68_4ad77.pdf
    Yuri Gagarin - a Russian; the first man in space and the first man to orbit the Earth
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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