April 12 - Aviation and Cosmonautics Day 

On this day, a memorable date dedicated to the first human flight into space is celebrated

On April 12, 1961, Senior Lieutenant Yu.A. Gagarin, a citizen of the Soviet Union, made an orbital flyby of the Earth on the "Vostok" spacecraft for the first time in the world. The flight, which lasted only 108 minutes, was a powerful breakthrough in space exploration. The name of Yuri Gagarin became widely known in the world, and the first cosmonaut himself received the rank of major and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union ahead of schedule.

But before the human flight, our best four-legged friends visited space. In August 1960, a Soviet spacecraft with dogs Belka and Strelka on board made a daily flight with a return to Earth.

Interesting facts about the first human flight into space:

🖋1. Three reports about Gagarin's flight into space were prepared beforehand. The first is "Successful", the second is asking for help in the search if he falls on the territory of another country or in the world ocean, and the third is "Tragic" if Gagarin dies.
🌚2. On the far side of the moon, a crater is named in honor of Yuri Gagarin.
💌3. Two days before the flight into space, Yuri Gagarin wrote a farewell letter to his wife in case there was a crash
💁‍♀️4. On June 16, 1963, the first flight of a female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova took place
🐢5. In 1968, turtles went into space. Two Central Asian turtles were selected as experimental animals to participate in the lunar program implemented by the USSR.
⏱6. The longest flight in space — 438 consecutive days spent at the Mir station by Valery Polyakov.
🐶7. The dog Laika became the first living creature to go on a space flight. It was launched into space on November 3, 1957. But she failed to return to Earth
And what facts about space flight surprised you?