INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT

• The International Day of Human Space Flight is celebrated on April 12.
• The day is celebrated to honour the first person, Yuri Gagarin, to go to space.
• The day is also dedicated to the beginning of the space era for mankind, the contribution of space science and technology, and ensuring to conservation of outer space for peaceful purposes.
• The theme of this year’s International Day of Human Space Flight is ‘Encourage Scientific Curiosity’.

HISTORY:

• On April 7, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly finalised April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight.
• On October 4, 1957, a human-made satellite named, Sputnik I, was sent to space.
• This was the first ever human effort to explore space. After understanding space and enhancing the technologies, on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union became the first human to travel around the earth in space.
• Later, on June 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first person on Earth to set foot on the moon.