Watch the global premier of 'First Orbit'

Sun, 04/10/2011 - 14:27 — Ben Gilliland

... and help celebrate 50 years of mankind in space

On April 12, 1961, a human left the surface of the Earth and travelled into space... for the first time.

During his 108 minutes in space, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to gaze down upon the small blue world we call home. But what was it like to sail silently over the oceans and continents from hundreds of miles above the Earth?

Award-winning filmmaker Christopher Riley and astronaut Paolo Nespoli have teamed to create 'First Orbit', a film that attempts to recreate Gagarin’s experiences. By closely matching the orbital path of the International Space Station to that of Vostok 1 and filming the view, they have captured a new high definition view of Gagarin’s journey.

The footage has been matched up with historic recordings of Gagarin to create a masterpiece of panoramic reflection.

The 108 minute film will be premiered across the world on YouTube at midnight on the International Date Line – that’s 7am Tuesday, April 12 in the UK.

And you can watch here at Cosmonline! (Scroll down the page... see that YouTube-style moving picture box? Consider that to be your own personal movie theatre. Just let it load a bit, close the curtains and enjoy the film!)

But if that's not good enough for you (and you want to find out more about this spectacular film) go to the official First Orbit website