For extreme space records, sky's the limit[ Fri, 8 Apr 2011 23:17:38 GMT ]On April 12, 1961, humanity became a spacefaring species when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted into orbit on a 108-minute flight high above Earth. So Gagarin set the original record — first person in space. But over the past 50 years, people have notched many other records as our species has extended its toehold in the cold depths of space.