First Orbit

In a unique collaboration with the European Space Agency, and the Expedition 26/27 crew of the International Space Station, this film shows what Gagarin first witnessed fifty years ago.

April 12th 1961 – Yuri Gagarin is about to see what no other person has seen in the history of humanity – the Earth from space.

In the next 108 minutes he'll see more than most people do in a lifetime. What sights awaited the first cosmonaut silently gliding over the world below? What was it like to view the oceans and continents sailing by from such a height?

By matching the orbital path of the Space Station, as closely as possible, to that of Gagarin's Vostok 1 spaceship and filming the same vistas of the Earth through the new giant cupola window, astronaut Paolo Nespoli, and documentary film maker Christopher Riley, have captured a new digital high definition view of the Earth below, half a century after Gagarin first witnessed it.

Weaving these new views together with historic, recordings of Gagarin from the time, (subtitled in Englsih) and an original score by composer Philip Sheppard, this is a spellbinding film to share with people around the world on this historic anniversary.

First Orbit - Online full documentary