The world is celebrating the International Day of Human Space Flight – also marked as Cosmonautics Day in Russia – on Wednesday to commemorate the historic flight of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who on this day in 1961 became the first human to venture into space aboard the Vostok-1 spacecraft.
Opening a new chapter of human endeavour in outer space, the 108-minute orbital flight changed the world forever.
Hoy es el Día de la Cosmonáutica y el Día Internacional de los Vuelos Espaciales Tripulados porque #undíacomohoy (1961) el cosmonauta soviético Yuri Gagarin se convierte en el primer hombre lanzado al espacio –> https://t.co/o6XbFkhQta #FelizMiércoles #BuenosDías #12Abril pic.twitter.com/vQJHiJlaez
— Archivo RTVE (@ArchivoRTVE) April 12, 2023
It also paved way for another USSR cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova to become the first woman to orbit the Earth on 16th June 1963 and American astronaut Neil Armstrong the first human to set foot upon the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969.
The beginning of the space era for mankind led to the docking of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft on 17 July 1975, the first international human mission in space, opening the way for future joint manned flights.
In April 2011, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) declared April 12 as the ‘International Day of Human Space Flight’ to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind.
The resolution reaffirmed the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realisation of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.
2 years after Yuri Gagarin became 1st human to orbit the Earth he visited the UN. It’s Human Space Flight Day, see: https://t.co/JWVtqoBO06 pic.twitter.com/3a1VGQrd7S
— United Nations (@UN) April 12, 2017
While Russia continues to honour the feats of Gagarin and Tereshkova – the Bank of Russia is issuing a 3-Ruble commemorative silver coin on the 60th anniversary of Tereshkova’s flight into space – the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have also celebrated the remarkable achievements through numerous monuments.
A television film dedicated to the first manned flight into space was created by the editors of five partner media outlets of the TV BRICS network with the support of Roscosmos TV.
Космонавты Роскосмоса Сергей Прокопьев, Дмитрий Петелин, Андрей Федяев с борта МКС поздравляют профессионалов ракетно-космической отрасли, чьи усилия и самоотверженный труд привели к этому знаменательному событию и настоящим достижениям в отрасли! pic.twitter.com/sqMzm5BOCT
— ИА”Хейтер” (@Igor14280127) April 12, 2023
Russian space agency Roscosmos has also released a video of cosmonauts Sergey Prokopiev, Dmitry Petelin, Andrey Fedyaev congratulating professionals of the rocket and space industry on Cosmonautics Day from the International Space Station.
