Space

April 25, 2019

On April 12 United Nations (UN) organization celebrates International Day of Human Space Flight

It is noted on the UN web page that:

"The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

12 April 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen. This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity."

If you think about this in the biological sense, it was the first flight of the representative of the Homo sapiens (human) species outside the planet of its origin. It was the first step of human expansion beyond the planet Earth and in the future to other planets.

The chief designer of the Soviet rocket program, which led to the appearance of the first human in outer space, was Ukrainian, a native of Zhytomyr - Sergiy Koroliov , who lived over Soviet prisons and forced labor prison camps.

At that time in the West, the space competition between the Soviet Union and the United States received the name Space Race. Both states, in addition to their own developments, used the developments of German engineers of the German rocket program and the German engineers themselves seized with the occupation of Germany during the Second World War. The main figure in the development of rocket technology first in Germany, and later in the United States was Werner von Braun .

On April 12, 2019, the following public appeal was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament) of Ukraine:

"I propose to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to establish the International annual award named after Sergiy Koroliov, a Ukrainian, chief designer of the Soviet rocket program, to be presented to specialists from any country for significant achievements in the space exploration field. The announcement of the award of such a prize will annually remind humanity about the key person that was behind opening of the era of human space flight and about the country that was his motherland. To award the prize on April 12 each year on the anniversary of the first human space flight. This day is celebrated by the United Nations at the international level ( https://www.un.org/en/events/humanspaceflightday/index.shtml ). The size of the award should be significant in view of the importance of the achievement. The amount of the prize can be made symbolic, equivalent, for example, to the cost of 12 kilograms of gold, or handing over 12 kg of gold. It was the gold ore that was mined by the Koroliov when he was in the Stalin's forced labor prison camp in detention. The proposed expenses are small, given the great importance of Sergiy Koroliov's personality for the prestige of Ukraine.

To form a committee to award the prize from the leading specialists of the rocket and space industry of Ukraine."


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