Hyderabad: On April 12, the world will celebrate the 63rd International Day for Human Space Flight. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2011 in a resolution affirmed April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight.
The day is dedicated to the outset of the space era for mankind, the contribution of space science and technology and ensuring the realisation of the conservation of outer space for peaceful purposes.
Its history goes back to 1961 when Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, made history by completing the first successful human space flight on April 12, 1961. He circled the Earth in the Vostok 1 spacecraft for 108 minutes, travelling at a speed of 27,400 kilometres per hour. This development came against the backdrop of post-World War 2 and the Cold War that followed and it paved the way for future space exploration.
Many great achievements were obtained after the historic 1961 first human visit into space. In 1963, Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to orbit Earth. In 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person to step foot on the Moon. And since then, people around the world on this day celebrate the victory and courage of Soviet cosmonaut, remembering Yuri Gagarin's brave journey into space.
The UNGA recognises the benefits of outer space and acknowledges the common interest of mankind. Space exploration has helped us in various fields LIKE navigation, communication, and weather forecasting among others.
Rise of ISRO
After launching the historic Gaganyaan mission last year, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) plans to set up the country’s first space station by 2035 and put a human on the Moon by 2040. In late February, ISRO revealed the first four astronauts selected for India’s human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan.
The astronauts — Group Captains Prashanth Balakrishnan Nair, Ajit Krishnan and Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Subhanshu Shukla — were offered designatory astronaut-wing badges by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Isro’s headquarters.
ISRO has scored a number of successes in 2023 including landing on the moon with the robotic Chandrayaan-3 mission and launching the Aditya-1 solar probe to Earth-sun Lagrange Point 1.
