April 12 – International Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics

The International Day of Human Space Flight, which is also Cosmonautics Day in Russia and other countries, and International Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics, is the annual celebration, held on April 12, of the anniversary of the first human space flight by Yuri Gagarin.

It was proclaimed at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly on April 7, 2011. Yuri Gagarin carried out Vostok 1 space flight in 1961, making one orbit around the Earth over 108 minutes in the Vostok 3KA spacecraft launched by Vostok-K launch vehicle.

Gagarin’s flight was a triumph for the Soviet space program, and opened a new era in the history of space exploration Gagarin circled the Earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.