International Day of Human Space Flight
12 April 2026 — I'm waving from the porthole! Earth looks beautiful from up here!
On 12 April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin lifted off aboard Vostok 1 and became the first human in space. His flight around the Earth lasted about 108 minutes and marked the beginning of human spaceflight. In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the flight, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 12 April the International Day of Human Space Flight. The aim is to celebrate the contribution of space exploration to peace and sustainable development and to encourage international cooperation. The day is marked with lectures, exhibitions, stargazing events and activities in museums and planetariums. Around the world, people also join Yuri's Night, an international celebration of Gagarin and the space age. The day is tied to the sky in the most direct way: today's astronauts orbit the Earth aboard the International Space Station, and on some evenings you can spot it as a bright dot swiftly crossing the night sky.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver figure made of luminous dots and thin lines, like a constellation: a small retro rocket with a tiny astronaut waving from its round porthole, drifting slowly across the night sky and leaving a faint trail of twinkling stars
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