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INTERNATIONAL DAY OF HUMAN SPACE FLIGHT / 12 APRIL

The curiosity to explore the un­known in the infinite space, which contains everything, stars, galaxies, and more, has led to many remarkable breakthroughs in Space Science, Astronomy, and Astro­physics in recent years. To explore space, observations can generally be character­ised into two groups: ground-based and space-based. Both of them have their own limitations and advantages; they complement each other. Ground-based observations with different types of telescopes are cost-effective and easier to maintain than space-based observa­tions with satellites/spaceships, which are costly and difficult to maintain. Space-based observations have a sig­nificant advantage over ground-based ones, as they are free of atmospheric signal distortion. The use of satellites, rockets, and spacecraft is among the most powerful ways to study Earth and the universe. With this, one can collect precious scientific datasets that would otherwise be impossible to obtain from ground-based observations.

The space organisations like the Na­tional Aeronautics and Space Admin­istration (NASA) of the USA, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) of India, European Space Agency (ESA) with 22 state members on board in Eu­rope and Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (popularly known as Roscosmos) of Russia are continu­ously launching their space missions to explore the universe in diverse contexts. The erstwhile Soviet Union was the first to launch a space mission, Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957. However, the Soviet Union’s first human spaceflight mis­sion was Vostok 1 on 12 April 1961. Yuri Gagarin piloted this mission and is credited as the first person to orbit the Earth and travel into space. This day is marked as the International Day of Human Space Flight.

Later in 1969, during the Apollo II mission, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian to travel in space in 1984 aboard the Soviet space­craft Soyuz T‑11. In June 2025, Shubhans­hu Shukla, a Group Captain in the Indian Air Force, became the first Indian to visit the International Space Station (ISS), fly­ing as pilot on the 18-day Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). Further, Kalpana Chawla was the first woman of Indian origin in space when she flew with the STS-87 mission in 1997. She tragically lost her life on the Columbia STS-107 mission in 2003 when the shuttle disintegrated during its re-entry to Earth. More recently, another Indian origin woman, Sunita Williams, made the record of spending the longest cumulative period in space of 600+ days, which was surpassed by Peggy Whitson with cumulative 675 days in space.

In recent years, ISRO has launched several missions to space, such as AS­TROSAT, Mangalyan Mission, and Chandrayan Mission I & II, with good success. The Aditya-L1 Mission of ISRO was launched on 2 September 2023 and reached Lagrange point 1 halo orbit in January 2024. It is cur­rently operational and studying the Sun. ISRO also plans to launch the Gagan­yaan mission to low Earth orbit with a few astronauts, along with a few other missions as follow-ups to Chandrayaan and Aditya-L1, using next-generation launch vehicles.

Space missions are important not only for technological advancements but also for better understanding the universe, protecting Earth from threats, improving climate monitoring, and ex­ploring life beyond Earth. In addition, becoming an astronaut is rigorous, re­quiring extensive years of training to cope with the physical demands, includ­ing microgravity-induced bone loss and psychological stress. In a nutshell, the development of space research, along with trained astronauts, will not only enhance the human presence in space but also open new avenues for our fu­ture generations.

*The writer is a Professor of Phys­ics and Director, Research & Devel­opment Cell, HNBGU, Srinagar- Garhwal, Uttarakhand, and can be reached at hnandan@associates.iucaa.in.