April 12 is the International Day of Human Space Flight. This day is intended to commemorate the beginning of the space era for humanity and to reaffirm the significant contributions of space science and technology in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

It aims to promote the well-being of nations and their people while ensuring that outer space is utilized for peaceful purposes.

April 12, 1961, marks the date of the first human spaceflight conducted by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen.

This historic event paved the way for future space exploration, benefiting all of humanity.

The first American in space, following Gagarin, was Alan Shepard, who flew the Freedom 7 spacecraft on May 5, 1961, during a 15-minute suborbital flight.

Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) joined NASA in 1978 and, in 1983, became the first American woman and the third woman to fly in space, following cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova in 1963 and Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982.

Mae Jemison became the first African American woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve on the STS-47 mission, during which the Endeavour orbited the Earth for nearly eight days from September 12 to 20, 1992.

The four astronauts selected to be the first to fly to the Moon under NASA's Artemis program have revealed their mission patch, which symbolizes both their distant destination and the home they will return to.

Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency are set to embark on a mission around the Moon in 2026 as part of Artemis II.

This 10-day flight will test NASA's foundational human deep space exploration capabilities, including the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, with astronauts on board for the first time.

Through the Artemis program, NASA aims to send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery and economic benefits, laying the groundwork for the first crewed missions to Mars.

Artemis I, a crucial test flight for NASA's deep-space exploration systems, was successfully launched on November 16, 2022. It carried the Orion spacecraft atop the SLS rocket from Launch Complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.

Rocket? Stacking. Crew training? Underway. Mission patch? Ready to go. ✅

The Artemis II mission will embark on its journey around the Moon in early 2026 — and now we’ve got the mission patch to mark the occasion. pic.twitter.com/ry1dmgmZjb

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2025