Cosmonautics Day

History

The commemorative day was established in the Soviet Union one year later, on 9 April 1962. In modern Russia, it is celebrated in accordance with Article 1.1 of the Law "On the Days of Military Glory and the Commemorative Dates in Russia".

Gagarin's flight was a triumph for the Soviet space program, and opened a new era in the history of space exploration. Gagarin became a national hero of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc and a famous figure around the world. Major newspapers around the globe published his biography and details of his flight. Moscow and other cities in the USSR held mass demonstrations, the scale of which was second only to World War II Victory Parades. Gagarin was escorted in a long motorcade of high-ranking officials through the streets of Moscow to the Kremlin where, in a lavish ceremony, he was awarded the highest Soviet honour, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Nowadays the commemoration ceremony on Cosmonautics Day starts in the city of Korolyov, near Gagarin's statue. Participants then proceed under police escort to Red Square for a visit to Gagarin's grave in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, and continue to Cosmonauts Alley, near the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. Finally, the festivities conclude with a visit to the Novodevichy Cemetery.

In 1968, the 61st conference of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale resolved to celebrate this day as the World Aviation and Astronautics Day.

On 12 April 1981, exactly 20 years after Vostok 1, a Space Shuttle (STS-1, Columbia) was launched for the first orbital flight, although this was a coincidence as the launch of STS-1 had been delayed for two days.

On 7 April 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight.

In the 1960s, the song 14 минут до старта ("14 Minutes Until Start") written by Oscar Feltsman and Vladimir Voynovich was considered the unofficial "anthem of cosmonautics" and regularly aired on this day in the USSR. Adapted into a march, it is played in all military parades as a sort of march past of the Russian Space Forces. In the 1980s, it was eclipsed by the hit Трава у дома ("Grass by the Home") performed by the Russian VIA band Zemlyane ("The Earthlings"). The latter song was awarded the official status of the anthem of Russian Cosmonautics in 2009. Russian cosmonauts have traditionally taken this song with them getting assigned for orbital deployments.

Since 2001, Yuri's Night, also known as the "World's Space party", is held every 12 April worldwide to commemorate milestones in space exploration.

On 12 April 2017, the United Nations commemorated the "International Day of Human Space Flight" to celebrate the 56th anniversary of the first human space flight, which ushered in the beginning of the space era for mankind.

Gallery

File:Vladimir Putin 12 April 2001-3.jpg|Russian president Vladimir Putin in the House of Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics on Cosmonautics Day 2001 File:Cosmonaut Day festivities.jpg|Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov on his way to lay a flower at the base of Yuri Gagarin's statue in Korolyov on Cosmonautics Day 2002 File:50-th years jubilee of Cosmonautics Day salute.ogv|Fireworks in Moscow to the 50th Anniversary of spaceflight in 2011 File:Як розвивають сучасну космонавтику у Дніпрі.webm|Cosmonautics Day, Ukraine, 2021 In philately and numismatics File:The Soviet Union 1964 CPA 3014 stamp (Space Exploration. Gagarin and Vostok 1).jpg|Soviet stamp with Yuri Gagarin, 1964 File:1967 CPA 3476.jpg|Soviet stamp with Alexei Leonov, 1967 File:1972. День космонавтики.jpg|Soviet stamp, 1972 File:The Soviet Union 1990 CPA 6193 stamp (Cosmonautics Day. 'Mir' space complex and cosmonaut).jpg|Soviet stamp with "Mir" space station, 1990 File:Stamp of Kazakhstan 115.jpg|Kazakh stamp, 1996 File:RR5714-0010R.png|Jubilee coin "50 лет первого полёта человека в космос", Russia, 2011 File:Stamp 2011 Gagarin (1).JPG|Jubilee stamp, Ukraine, 2011

References

References

1. [https://archive.today/20150125180654/http://indian.ruvr.ru/news/2014_04_12/Russia-marks-Cosmonautics-Day/ Russia marks Cosmonautics Day]. Russian Radio, 12 April 2014
2. (7 April 2011). "UN Resolution A/RES/65/271, The International Day of Human Space Flight (12 April)".
3. "Aviation and Space World Records". [[Fédération Aéronautique Internationale]] (FAI).
4. Первушин, Антон. (2011). "108 минут, изменившие мир". Эксмо.
5. "Cosmonaut's Day Events in Russia".
6. "STS-1 Overview". [[NASA]].
7. (31 March 2010). "Песня нашего земляка стала гимном российской космонавтики".
8. Murphy, Alan. (27 May 2008). "The losing hand: tradition and superstition in spaceflight".
9. (20 September 2014). "Darwin's Day to Yuri's Night: some science dates to remember". [[The Guardian]].
10. Teague, Jason Cranford. (14 February 2011). "Celebrate 50 Years of Human Space Flight on Yuri's Night". Wired.
11. "UN Organizes International Day of Human Space Flight". ABC Live.