... Curious Cometary Knots in the Helix Nebula . ... On April 12th, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alexseyevich Gagarin became the first human in space. His remotely controlled Vostok 1 spacecraft lofted him to an altitude of 200 miles and carried him once around planet Earth. Commenting on the first view from space he reported, "The sky is very dark; the Earth is bluish. ... Stickney Crater . ... A Large Magellanic Cloud Deep Field . ... Is this a spiral galaxy? ... First page ] Prev. ... April . ...