ROCKET MAN
The incredible story of human spaceflight
On 12 April 1961, history was made when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth in his Vostok I spacecraft. Shooting to a height of 203 miles, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth in 108 minutes. In an interview after his flight, Gagarin said, “Orbiting Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it!”
On that day a new era for human spaceflight began. Since Gagarin entered space almost 57 years ago, humans have walked on the Moon, sent a spacecraft into interstellar space and studied every planet in our solar system.
In 2011, the United Nations (UN), an organisation of 193 countries dedicated to promoting peace, declared 12 April the International Day of Human Space Flight. The aim of the day is “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”.
The space era has not only advanced our knowledge of the universe, it has also helped us to create technology used on Earth. Satellite technology began in the 1960s as a way for space agencies to talk to astronauts. Without satellites, humans wouldn’t have a lot of the tech on which they rely today, such as smartphones, satellite TV or laptop computers. Former UN SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki-Moon, believes the International Day of Human Space
Flight can also help the next generation of astronauts. In 2016, he said, “I hope it will inspire young people in particular to pursue their dreams and move the world towards new frontiers of knowledge and understanding.”