One of the most successful space designs ever the initial flight of the Vostok which carried the first human being into space was launched on April 12 1961 Vostok 1 carrying cosmonaut Yury A Gagarin made a single orbit of Earth before reentry The Vostok series included six launchings over a two-year period 1961-63 The final two missions in June 1963 by Vostok 5 followed two days later by Vostok 6 carrying Valentina V Tereshkova the first woman in space were notable in that the two spacecraft travelled at times only 3 miles 4 8 km apart setting the stage for future space dockings between orbiting vehicles