Outer space witnessed the presence of the first ever human more than 60 years back, eight years before humankind could step foot on the moon.

Travelling in the Vostok 1 capsule, Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first human in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight, on 12 April, 1961.

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This historic event paved the way for space exploration in future. To commemorate the same, the Russian House in Kolkata is set to organise a memorial exhibition, discussions, variety presentations and film screenings from 11-14 April.

The session shall be held at Gorky Sadan by the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Kolkata in association with the Institute of Russian Language, Astro Nomads Bengal, Eisenstein Cine Club, Cine Central Calcutta and North Calcutta Film Society.

The exhibition will remain open for public viewing between 3-6 pm. The inaugural session witnessed an exhibition titled Our Gagarin – The First Cosmonaut and astrophotography.

A variety cultural presentation by the students of the Institute of Russian Language shall be held on 12 April. A floral tribute shall be paid to the Soviet cosmonaut at the Birla Planetarium on the same day.

Films like Solaris by Andrei Tarkovsky and Dreaming of Space by Alexy Uchitel shall be screened on 12- 13 April, respectively. Around 100 school children shall participate in a sit and draw on the topic, Our Cosmos, Our Dream on 14 April. Russia and a few other former Soviet Union countries celebrate Cosmonautics Day on 12 April.

In Poland, an “International Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics” is celebrated on the same day.

The United Nations General Assembly at its 65th session 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”.