The Vostok programme was a Soviet human spaceflight project to put the first Soviet cosmonauts into low Earth orbit and return them safely. Competing with the United States Project Mercury, it succeeded in placing the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin, in a single orbit in Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. The Vostok capsule was developed from the Zenit spy satellite project, and its launch vehicle was adapted from the existing R-7 Semyorka intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) design. The name "Vostok" was treated as classified information until Gagarin's flight was first publicly disclosed to the world press.
Model of Vostok spacecraft with third stage of R-7
A copy of R-7 in Moscow
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts, cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or spacefarers.
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, 1969
Gemini 4 astronaut Ed White in open space, 1965
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide taking a space selfie in 2012
International Space Station crewmember Tracy Caldwell Dyson views the Earth, 2010