International day of human space flight

The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming 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 realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

12 April 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen. This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity.

The General Assembly expressed its deep conviction of the common interest of mankind in promoting and expanding the exploration and use of outer space, as the province of all mankind, for peaceful purposes and in continuing efforts to extend to all States the benefits derived there from.

Background

On 4 October 1957 the first human-made Earth satellite Sputnik I was launched into outer space, thus opening the way for space exploration. On 12 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth, opening a new chapter of human endeavour in outer space.

The Declaration further recalls “the amazing history of human presence in outer space and the remarkable achievements since the first human spaceflight, in particular Valentina Tereshkova becoming the first woman to orbit the Earth on 16 June 1963, Neil Armstrong becoming the first human to set foot upon the surface of the Moon on 20 July 1969, and the docking of the Apollo and Soyuz spacecrafts on 17 July 1975, being the first international human mission in space, and recall that for the past decade humanity has maintained a multinational permanent human presence in outer space aboard the International Space Station.”

UN and Space

From the very beginning of the Space Age, the United Nations recognized that outer space added a new dimension to humanity’s existence. The United Nations family strives continuously to utilize the unique benefits of outer space for the betterment of all humankind.

Recognizing the common interest of humankind in outer space and seeking to answer questions on how outer space can help benefit the people’s of Earth, the General Asssembly adopted its first resolution related to outer space, resolution 1348 (XIII) entitled “Question of the Peaceful Use of Outer Space”.

Today, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is the United Nations office responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. UNOOSA serves as the secretariat for the General Assembly’s only committee dealing exclusively with international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space: the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space(COPUOS).

UNOOSA is also responsible for implementing the Secretary-General’s responsibilities under international space law and maintaining the United Nations Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.

United Nations Champion for Space Scott Kelly and UNOOSA Director Simonetta Di Pippo discuss International Day of Human Space Flight and UNOOSA’s work.

Our Planet Earth

In an awestruck manner, seventeen astronauts and cosmonauts from ten countries describe their perceptions of Earth as seen from space. Watch the documentary produced in July 1990.

International Day of Human Space Flight

When Is International Day of Human Space Flight 2020?

Quick Facts

This year:	вск 12 апр 2020 г.
Next year:	пнд 12 апр 2021 г.
Last year:	птн 12 апр 2019 г.
Type:	United Nations observance

The United Nations (UN) celebrates the International Day of Human Space Flight on April 12 each year. The day remembers the first human space flight on April 12, 1961.

Statue of Yuri Gagarin, the world’s first cosmonaut to have travelled in outer space.

What Do People Do

The International Day of Human Space Flight celebrates the start of the space era for humankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in today’s world. The day also aims to promote aspirations to explore and maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.

Activities to promote the day have included photo exhibitions, conferences showcasing technology used for outer space, and the release of commemorative stamps.

Public Life

The International Day of Human Space Flight is a UN observance and not a public holiday.

Background

April 12, 1961, was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin. This historic event opened the way for space exploration. In 2011 the UN declared April 12 as the “International Day of Human Space Flight” to remember the first human space flight and to promote the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes and to the benefit of humankind.

Symbols

Commemorative stamps depicting human space flight have been released on or around the International Day of Human Space Flight in the past. A statue of Yuri Gagarin, the world’s first cosmonaut to journey in outer space, is located about 40km (about 25 miles) from Saratov, Russia. It was erected in 1981.

International Day of Human Space Flight Observances

Year	Weekday	Date	Name	Holiday Type
2015	вск	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2016	втр	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2017	срд	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2018	чтв	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2019	птн	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2020	вск	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2021	пнд	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2022	втр	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2023	срд	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2024	птн	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance
2025	сбт	12 апр	International Day of Human Space Flight	United Nations observance

We diligently research and continuously update our holiday dates and information. If you find a mistake, please let us know.

Other Names and Languages

English	International Day of Human Space Flight
Arabic	اليوم الدولي للطيران الفضائي الإنسا
German	Internationaler Tag der bemannten Raumfahrt
Hebrew	היום הבינלאומי של אדם טיסות חלל
Korean	인간의 우주 비행의 국제 날
Spanish	Día Internacional de los Vuelos Espaciales Tripulados

Fun Holidays on 12 апрель 2020 г.

Grilled Cheese Day

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Celebrate International Day of Human Space Flight with Mr. Kalopsia

Adobe Products in this article

Ever heard of the International Day of Human Space Flight? Well, Eashan Misra – or, as he’s known on Instagram, Mr. Kalopsia – sure has. This Photoshop artist and space enthusiast celebrates the UN holiday with gusto! And we were lucky enough to get to pick his creative, space-loving brain.

It’s no mystery why so many children grow up with career aspirations to become astronauts. Outer space is naturally fascinating, and, let’s face it, astronauts are just plain cool. But for Eashan, “being an astronaut was never a real career option.” Instead of suiting up himself, Eashan realizes his dream to go to space through his alter ego, Mr. Kalopsia. Eashan shares, “I created Kalopsia’s persona as an astronaut who does everyday chores like a regular human. I try to make this astronaut relatable by creating a parallel universe where he performs tasks like us.”

Eashan’s manipulations and digital paintings keep Mr. Kalopsia grounded and bring him back to earth – but only figuratively, of course. Here he is at an outer space library.

Mr. Kalopsia isn’t the only avid reader in the house, though; Eashan also has quite the appetite for knowledge.

With a fascination for space that extends far beyond his art, when he isn’t busy creating new surroundings for Mr. Kalopsia, Eashan is reading. From Stephen Hawking to Carl Sagan to Meghnad Saha to Edwin Hubble, Eashan devours it all. He’ll puzzle over unsolved (and possibly unsolvable) questions like “What lies beyond our visible universe?” or “What happens inside a black hole?”. Sooner or later, he’ll find himself lost in thought, and that’s when inspiration strikes, bringing him back to his art. He admits, “with every unsolved question, comes another idea for a photo manipulation of what the answer could be.”

Chancing on artistic inspiration didn’t always come so easy, however. Eashan started out on the path to becoming an engineer, pursuing a degree in computer science. His first project in Photoshop was actually creating a poster for a university event. “It took me three days to create that poster,” Eashan remembers, “and for those 72 hours, I watched endless tutorials on YouTube.”

After that, it was an easy decision for Eashan. He describes the moment saying, “The joy of seeing the finished poster on the screen in front of me was incomparable, and I knew that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Eashan learned most of the tools and techniques he uses today by combing through Photoshop tutorials on various YouTube channels. He explains, “I would recreate what I learned in the tutorial to gain skills, and eventually I started creating pieces with fresh ideas of my own.”

Now, he even produces his own tutorials. He was kind enough to share a step-by-step on how he created one of his absolute favorite pieces – an image inspired by artwork from the band Mogwai.

Step 1 – Creating the interstellar background in Photoshop

Step 2 – Adding in an astronaut

Step 3 – Cutting out some fish

Step 4 – Adding depth to the space helmet (or should we say fishbowl?)

Step 5 – Adjusting the color

Eashan shared a few parting words of wisdom: “Work hard and be nice to people. This is something which I have always believed in very strongly and something I always try to impart to everyone. I believe that you are not born talented, but you induce talent by working hard. If you can add any meaning to the world with your knowledge and skill, you should do that and help as many people as you can.”

For more of Mr. Kalopsia’s adventures, check out his Instagram.

International day of human space flight

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Current Affairs 12 April 2019 Digest 3: International Day of Human Space Flight; SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches first commercial flight

US space flight company SpaceX carried out its first commercial launch with its Falcon Heavy rocket by placing a Saudi satellite in orbit. The 13,000-pound Saudi Arabian telecommunication satellite is operated by Arabsat and is expected to provide television, internet and mobile phone service to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Rupali Pruthi

Story 1: International Day of Human Space Flight 2019 observed globally

12 April: International Day of Human Space Flight

The International Day of Human Space Flight was observed across the world on April 12, 2019. The day celebrates the anniversary of the first ever human space flight undertaken by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Union citizen then.

Gagarin carried out Vostok 1 space flight on April 12, 1961, making one orbit around the Earth in over 108 minutes in the Vostok 3KA spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched by Vostok-K launch vehicle. This space flight opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity.

The day is also observed as ‘Cosmonautics Day’ in Russia and some other countries.

When was the Day proclaimed?

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) through its resolution on April 7, 2011 proclaimed that International Day of Human Space Flight will be observed annually on 12 April.

In its proclamation, the general assembly said, “The day will be celebrated at the international level to reaffirm the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples. It said that the day will help in ensuring the realisation of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

Firsts in the space

• April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit the Earth.

• June 16, 1963: Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to orbit the Earth.

• March 18, 1965: Alexei Leonov became the first person to conduct a spacewalk

• March 31, 1966: Luna 10 was launched and was the first spacecraft to be placed in Moon orbit.

• July 20, 1969: Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the surface of the Moon.

• March 2, 1972: Pioneer 10 probe was launched. It was the first spacecraft to explore the Asteroid Belt, fly by Jupiter and leave the Solar System.

• July 17, 1975: Docking of Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft in space was the First international human mission to space.

• July 20, 1976: The unmanned space probe ‘Viking 1’ transmitted the first pictures from the surface of Mars.

• 1984: Rakesh Sharma, the former Indian Air Force pilot, became the first person of Indian origin to travel in space. He slew in the space aboard Soyuz t-11, which was launched on April 2, 1984. He flew as part of the Intercosmos programme.

• 1997: Kalpana Chawla, an Indian American astronaut, became the first woman of Indian origin to be in space.

Story 2: SpaceX launches its first commercial flight with Falcon Heavy

US space flight company SpaceX carried out its first commercial launch with its Falcon Heavy rocket by placing a Saudi satellite in orbit on April 11, 2019. The 13,000-pound Saudi Arabian telecommunication satellite is operated by Arabsat and is expected to provide television, internet and mobile phone service to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The bright white Falcon Heavy rocket was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The launch was initially scheduled on April 10 but was postponed due to fierce winds in the upper atmosphere.

This was also the first time that all three of the rocket’s reusable boosters returned safely to Earth.

Maiden launch of Falcon Heavy rocket

This launch on the Falcon Heavy rocket came a year after it launched SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s red Tesla roadster car into orbit as a test on February 6, 2018.

Falcon Heavy carried a red Tesla Roadster car belonging to Tesla founder Musk into space. The car was outfitted with a mannequin dressed in a spacesuit, a high-data storage unit containing Isaac Asimov’s science fiction book series, the Foundation Trilogy, and a plaque bearing the names of 6000 SpaceX employees.

About Falcon Heavy

• With a total of 27 Merlin engines, Falcon Heavy rocket is capable of generating more than 5 million pounds (2.3 million kg) of thrust at liftoff, which is equal to about eighteen 747 aircraft or more than a dozen jetliners.

• The rocket can lift a total weight of 64 tons into the orbit, which is just the double of the lift capacity of the operational vehicle ‘Delta IV Heavy’, that too at a far lower cost of about USD 90 million per launch, in comparison to USD 350 million for Delta IV Heavy.

• The Falcon Heavy, on the whole, equals the strength of three Falcon 9 rockets of SpaceX.

• The 230-foot-tall rocket weighs more than 3.1 million pounds and is made up of three reusable boosters based on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

• Three boosters make up the first stage of Falcon Heavy. The side boosters are connected to the centre of the core at its base and at the vehicle’s interstage.

• The two side boosters are both flight-tested. One of the boosters launched the Thaicom 8 satellite in May 2016 and the other supported the CRS-9 mission in July 2016.

• It was initially designed with an aim to restore the possibility of sending humans to the Moon or Mars, but now Falcon Heavy is being considered mainly as a potential equipment carrier for deep space destinations.

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डाउनलोड करें करेंट अफेयर्स ऐप एग्जाम की तैयारी के लिए

Happy International Day of Human Space Flight!

This date serves as an opportunity to reaffirm 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 realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.” (UN Resolution, A/RES/65/271)

The Earth and Moon
During its flight, the Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Earth and Moon. Separate images of the Earth and Moon were combined to generate this view. The Galileo spacecraft took the images in 1992 on its way to explore the Jupiter system in 1995-97. The image shows a partial view of the Earth centered on the Pacific Ocean about latitude 20 degrees south. The west coast of South America can be observed as well as the Caribbean; swirling white cloud patterns indicate storms in the southeast Pacific. The distinct bright ray crater at the bottom of the Moon is the Tycho impact basin. The lunar dark areas are lava rock filled impact basins. This picture contains same scale and relative color/albedo images of the Earth and Moon. False colors via use of the 1-micron filter as red, 727-nm filter as green, and violet filter as blue. The Galileo project is managed for NASA’s Office of Space Science by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Image # : PIA00342

Outer space has a very interesting legal history that is summarized on the ABA’s Space Law 101 page. Shortly after humanity developed the ability to fly airplanes, it was determined that a nation’s sovereignty extended vertically to include all airspace within its boundaries.

Yuri Gagarin: First Man in Space. NASA, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/sts1/gagarin_anniversary.html

When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, in 1957, it was unclear whether national boundaries would extend into outer space. If they did, Sputnik–and Yuri Gagarin–would have violated the sovereignty of many nations by orbiting the Earth, in the same manner as the United States would have when Alan Shepard orbited the Earth less than a year later. Thus, a distinction was made between spacecraft and aircraft that began the field of space law.

In 1967, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies–often referred to much more simply as “the Outer Space Treaty”–established the framework upon which modern space law is built.

In the twentieth century, virtually all manned space activities were carried out by state agencies. Under space law, legal responsibility for space objects and personnel was assigned to the nation states. In recent years, however, we have witnessed the development of privatized space travel. The development of private companies going into space raises many interesting legal questions that will certainly be addressed over the coming years.

The space industry is responsible for many of the technological developments which we take for granted today. The Apollo Guidance Computer, for example, was one of the first integrated circuit-based computers. This allowed for a significant miniaturization of a computer that otherwise would have been far too large to fit into a space capsule. NASA has a list of technological benefits resulting from space exploration.

For more Space Law resources, check out the links below:

International Day of Human Space Flight: Celebrating Our Growing Footprint in the Great Beyond

By Deekshith Nevil Pinto

12 April 2019

TWC India

In 2011, the United Nations declared April 12 the ‘International Day of Human Space Flight’. On this very day in 1962, Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union took the first space flight, opening the doors of space exploration to humankind.

The fifties and sixties were marked by giant leaps in the field of astronomy. In October 1957, the Soviet Union sent the ever man-made object, Sputnik, into outer space. The fact that they were able to send Gagarin into space three-and-a-half years later is a remarkable feat. And seven years after that, in July 1969, the US made history again by putting human boots on the Moon.

April is also of special significance if you’re an Indian space enthusiast. Thirty-five years ago, on April 3, 1984, the first Indian astronaut, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, entered space aboard the Soviet rocket Soyuz T-11. Now, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to execute its first ever human space flight programme Gaganyaan by 2022. By then, it will be sixty years since Gagarin’s epoch-making journey, but despite that, the Gaganyaan mission will be a significant landmark in global space exploration.

Only three nations have been able to put a man in outer space so far: the USA, Russia, and China. In 2011, the US retired the Space Shuttle series and only Russia and China have retained human space flight capacity since. The US is now developing new-age spacecraft under programmes like Orion for future human space flight applications. Many private players are also attempting human space endeavours including Virgin Galactic led by Richard Branson, Blue Origins led by Jeff Bezos, and SpaceX led by Elon Musk.

If successful, Gaganyaan will make India the world’s fourth country to have successfully placed a human in space. “A healthy space programme has to evolve from challenge to challenge. After the successful execution of missions like Chandrayaan and Mangalayaan, a crewed programme is the next step that shows capability beyond what ISRO has achieved so far,” said Dr Jayant Murthy, Senior Professor at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics talking to the Weather Channel.

The indigenous mission Gaganyaan has many challenges to overcome. The major among them are enabling astronomers to adjust to the space environment, getting the hardware, software and other mechanics right, and overcoming complications related to launch and reentry. To date, 16 out of 19 deaths during spaceflight in history have been associated with spacecraft launch and re-entry.

ISRO has been preparing for the manned mission by developing the required technologies since 2004. The most critical of these are the Crew module Atmospheric Re-entry Experiment (CARE), successfully tested in December 2014, and the Crew Escape System, successfully tested in July 2018. While the former technology can bring back the astronauts safely, the latter provides a safe escape to astronauts in the event of a launch abort. Scientists at ISRO have also developed lightweight silicon tiles to shield the spacecraft against the immense heat and charge during reentry, considered the riskiest phase of the entire programme.

Importance of Human Spaceflight

On Human Spaceflight Day 2019, the UN General Assembly has called for a reaffirmation of the importance of space science and technology for sustainable development. It is not just an adventure trip; the future of humanity could be at stake.

“In future, the exploration of exoplanets, and ultimately finding an alternative to Earth will be crucial for the survival of the human race”, explains Dr Saurabh Das, faculty at Center of Astronomy, Indian Institute of Technology Indore.

The declaration on the 50th anniversary of human space flight in 2011 also calls for collaborations in space science and its applications to preserve planet Earth and its space environment for future generations. The potential outcomes of human space flight missions are infinite.

By exploring the unique conditions in space such as microgravity, scientists now have a better understanding of the processes that are often masked by the Earth’s gravity. From fundamental theories in physics to innovation in material engineering and medical science, human space flight missions have been invaluable for the advancement of science and technology. Even the human waste astronauts leave behind in space is flush with learning opportunities for scientists on Earth.

With increased collaboration among nations, continued interest from private players, and a growing number of realised benefits, the human presence in space will only increase in the years to come. Here’s our chance to know more about the stars. And, in the process, about ourselves.

International Day of Human Space Flight

International Day of Human Space Flight

The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming 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 realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

12 April 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen. This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity. The General Assembly expressed its deep conviction of the common interest of mankind in promoting and expanding the exploration and use of outer space, as the province of all mankind, for peaceful purposes and in continuing efforts to extend to all States the benefits derived there from.

Yuri Gagarin
He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.
Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s highest honour. Vostok 1 marked his only spaceflight, but he served as backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission (which ended in a fatal crash). Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, which was later named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG 15 training jet he was piloting crashed.

Vostok 1
Vostok 1 was the first spaceflight in the Vostok program and the first human spaceflight in history. The Vostok 3KA spacecraft was launched on April 12, 1961. The flight took Yuri Gagarin, a cosmonaut from the Soviet Union, into space. The flight marked the first time that a human entered outer space, as well as the first orbital flight of a manned vehicle. Vostok 1 was launched by the Soviet space program, and was designed by Soviet engineers guided by Sergei Korolev under the supervision of Kerim Kerimov and others.
The spaceflight consisted of a single orbit of the Earth (to this date the shortest orbital manned spaceflight). According to official records, the spaceflight took 108 minutes from launch to landing. As planned, Gagarin landed separately from his spacecraft, having ejected with a parachute 7 km (23,000 ft) above ground. Due to the secrecy surrounding the Soviet space program at the time, many details of the spaceflight only came to light years later, and several details in the original press releases turned out to be false.

Sputnik 1
The world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, had been put into orbit by the Soviets in 1957, and this could be considered the beginning of the Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. Both nations wanted to develop their spaceflight technology quickly, and in particular, both wanted to be the first to launch a successful human spaceflight. The Soviet programme for doing this was the Vostok programme. Prior to a manned spaceflight, the Soviets launched several precursor unmanned missions between May 1960 and March 1961, to test and develop the Vostok rocket and Vostok spacecraft technology. These missions had varied success, but the final two unmanned missions—Korabl-Sputnik 4 and Korabl-Sputnik 5—were outright successes, opening the door for a manned flight.