From left to right, Soviet cosmonauts Gherman Titov (1935 - 2000), Yuri Gagarin (1934 - 1968), Andriyan Nikolayev (1929 - 2004) and Pavel Popovich (1930 - 2009) pose on the Tribune of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow, August 1962. Nikolayev and Popovich have just returned to Moscow after the Vostok 3 and 4 space missions. Getty Images
Display boards of the outdoor exhibition 'Moscow meets the first!' in Moscow celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first human flight into space. On 12 April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin performed a space flight aboard the Vostok-1 spacecraft, orbiting Earth in 108 minutes and landing safely. EPA
Yuri Gagarin orbited earth one time at an altitude of 187 3/4 miles (302 kilometres) for 108 minutes at 18,000 miles an hour. AFP
This undated picture shows a Russian Vostok rocket on its launcher. It was the Soviet Union's own giant leap for mankind, one that would spur a America to race for the moon. It happened on Tuesday, April 12, 1961 when an air force pilot named Yuri Gagarin, travelling in a Vostok, became the first human in space. AP Photo
The Vostok-1 spacecraft blasts off on top of Rocket R-7 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. AFP
Russia is now trying to modernise its space programme through commercial space launches. AFP
A Czech postage stamp commemorating Mr Gagarin's flight in 'Vostok', 12 April 1961. Getty Images
Anatoliy Krasnikov, the Gulf representative of Roscosmos, said the space agency is open to sending the next Emirati astronaut into space. The first Emirati astronaut, Hazza Al Mansouri flew on a Russian Soyuz in 2019. AFP
The Vostok 3KA-2 Russian space capsule, which was sent into space on March 23, 1961. It was sold at Sotheby's auction house in 2011 for $2.9 million.
From left to right, Soviet cosmonauts Gherman Titov (1935 - 2000), Yuri Gagarin (1934 - 1968), Andriyan Nikolayev (1929 - 2004) and Pavel Popovich (1930 - 2009) pose on the Tribune of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow, August 1962. Nikolayev and Popovich have just returned to Moscow after the Vostok 3 and 4 space missions. Getty Images
Display boards of the outdoor exhibition 'Moscow meets the first!' in Moscow celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first human flight into space. On 12 April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin performed a space flight aboard the Vostok-1 spacecraft, orbiting Earth in 108 minutes and landing safely. EPA
Yuri Gagarin orbited earth one time at an altitude of 187 3/4 miles (302 kilometres) for 108 minutes at 18,000 miles an hour. AFP
This undated picture shows a Russian Vostok rocket on its launcher. It was the Soviet Union's own giant leap for mankind, one that would spur a America to race for the moon. It happened on Tuesday, April 12, 1961 when an air force pilot named Yuri Gagarin, travelling in a Vostok, became the first human in space. AP Photo
The Vostok-1 spacecraft blasts off on top of Rocket R-7 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. AFP
Russia is now trying to modernise its space programme through commercial space launches. AFP
A Czech postage stamp commemorating Mr Gagarin's flight in 'Vostok', 12 April 1961. Getty Images
Anatoliy Krasnikov, the Gulf representative of Roscosmos, said the space agency is open to sending the next Emirati astronaut into space. The first Emirati astronaut, Hazza Al Mansouri flew on a Russian Soyuz in 2019. AFP
The Vostok 3KA-2 Russian space capsule, which was sent into space on March 23, 1961. It was sold at Sotheby's auction house in 2011 for $2.9 million.
From left to right, Soviet cosmonauts Gherman Titov (1935 - 2000), Yuri Gagarin (1934 - 1968), Andriyan Nikolayev (1929 - 2004) and Pavel Popovich (1930 - 2009) pose on the Tribune of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow, August 1962. Nikolayev and Popovich have just returned to Moscow after the Vostok 3 and 4 space missions. Getty Images
