Evan Gattis hits home run at escape velocity, launches ball into low Earth orbit

On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human being in space. On his voyage, Gagarin managed to complete one orbit of Earth -- a feat not matched by the American space program until John Glenn performed three orbits aboard Friendship 7 in 1962, the USA's third manned spaceflight.

What's particularly impressive is that while these two men achieved these feats with the backing of massive government projects, Braves catcher Evan Gattis was able to launch a baseball into low Earth orbit using nothing more than a piece of fine American lumber:

And if that wasn't impressive enough, the 423-foot shot was the 40th homer of Gattis' young career.

Now, using NASA's timeline for a rough estimate, Gattis should be able to land a baseball on the moon in about seven years.