International Day of Human Space Flight

On April 12th the world marks International Day of Human Space Flight 世界宇宙飛行の日. It is very timely given the recent new record made by the Artemis II mission which has succeeded in flying the furthest from earth.

But the April 12th commemoration day is in recognition of the historic launch of Vostok 1 in 1961, the first spacecraft to carry a human into orbit. Piloted by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the mission lasted just 108 minutes. Yet, it transformed humanity's relationship with space and opened the door to all future human crewed exploration.

The United Nations created the International Day of Human Space Flight in 2011 to honor not only the achievement itself, but also the broader ideals it represents.