- Credit: Yuri’s Night
An around-the-globe salute to human spaceflight is set for next week, April 12th.
That date — 50 years ago — marks the first flight of a human into Earth orbit, the then Soviet Union’s cosmonaut – Yuri Gagarin, back on April 12, 1961.
Exactly 20 years later, the United States embarked on a new era in spaceflight with the inaugural launch of a new type of spaceship – the space shuttle orbiter, Columbia, on April 12th, 1981.
Designed to carry a larger crew and large volumes of cargo to orbit, the space shuttle orbiters have become synonymous with human spaceflight for an entirely new generation of young people.
Join the global celebration of humanity’s past, present and future in space by taking part in Yuri’s Night festivities. Note that many celebrations this year will occur on the weekend of April 9th.
To locate celebration events that might be in your area, go to:
By Leonard David