International Day of Human Space Flight observed on April 12

Key facts

• The International Day of Human Space Flight is observed annually on April 12 to commemorate the beginning of the space era for mankind.
• Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, completing a 108-minute mission aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) officially declared April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight in 2011 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first flight.
• Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963, aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft.
• Gherman Titov holds the record for the youngest professional astronaut, having travelled to space at the age of 25 aboard Vostok 2.
• Oliver Daemen from the Netherlands became the youngest space tourist at age 18 during a Blue Origin flight on July 20, 2021.
• China has completed its Tiangong space station, which includes the Tianhe core module and two laboratory modules named Wentian and Mengtian.
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Artemis II mission is a crewed flyby carrying Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen around the Moon.
• NASA astronauts use an emergency propulsion unit called Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) to return to the station if they become untethered during spacewalks.
• According to 2024 pay schedules, NASA astronauts earn an annual salary of $152,258, while European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts earn between €5,500 and €7,900 monthly.