International Day of Human Spaceflight: Celebrating the dawn of a new era in space

Today serves as a remembrance of the first human spaceflight, Yuri Gagarin's trip to orbit in 1961.

Tech2 News Staff|Apr 13, 2019, 14:37:08 IST

Every year on 12 April marks a big day for space enthusiasts, scientists, astronauts and humanity in general. It marks the International Day of Human Spaceflight, a celebration of mankind venturing into a new era of space, science and technology – humans in space.It is also a day that the United Nation promotes – with photo exhibits, conferences showcasing technology for space travel and commemorative stamps – all to spread the concept of exploring and maintaining peace in space while we expand our reach to the moon, the other planets in our solar system, and someday, a journey beyond the solar system we call home.[caption id="attachment_6434231" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

A photo of Yuri Gagarin ahead of his epic first journey to Earth's orbit in 1961. Image credit: ESA[/caption]12 April is also a historic day for space. This year, the day marks 58 years since the first man went to space in 1961 – Yuri Gagarin. This journey, which took copious amounts of courage, trust and an army of scientists and engineers to pull off, is a huge landmark en route to the ability for us to explore space.In 1981, Yuri Gagarin's legacy of being the world’s first cosmonaut to journey in outer space was memorialised in the form of a statue near Saratov in Russia.

Careless Whispers: Scientists discover that plants can 'talk' to each other using smells

Japanese scientists have recorded a video that shows plants, in certain conditions, communicate with each other using mists that carry smells. The discovery, reveals that plants release a fine mist of airborne compounds, to warn nearby plants of potential dangers

Life on Mars? European Space Agency’s Orbiter discovers ice water deposits at equator

European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter has identified massive ice and ice water deposits beneath the surface of Mars. The Mars Express orbiter was also the first to confirmed the presence of ice on Mars in 2004

Microsoft briefly overtakes Apple as the most valuable company, Apple back on top again

At its peak during the session, Microsoft's value reached $2.903 trillion, with a 2% surge. As of writing this article, Apple closed at $2.89 trillion, whereas Microsoft closed at $2.86 trillion

Even NASA is facing a tough time, starts layoffs following major budget cuts

NASA is facing some massive budget cuts, because of which, it has been forced to postpone some upcoming missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been hit hard by recent federal budget cuts, resulting in the layoff of 100 contractors last week

ISRO, NASA's NISAR satellite to get ready by Jan-end, will monitor Earth's snow-covered regions

The NISAR satellite which has been developed jointly ISRO and NASA, should be ready for launch by the end of January 2024. The collaboration between NASA and ISRO on NISAR is the first time the two agencies have cooperated on hardware development for an Earth-observing mission

Up Next