Secret files of first spaceman released

This file photo taken on April 12, 1961, shows Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin inside the Vostok 1 command capsule. The 27-year-old's 108-minute flight on April 12, 1961, is still remembered in Russia as its greatest national achievement. The first flight into space made by Gagarin allowed the Soviet leadership, fully entrenched in the Cold War, to maintain the superiority of the Soviet system over their principal adversary, the United States. Agence France-Presse