International holidays - Space Exploration Day

People dreamed of rising into the sky and flying to the stars at different stages of the development of human civilization The most important stage in the exploration of near-Earth space and the upper layers of the atmosphere was the flight of Yu Gagarin The Soviet ship "Vostok" launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in 1961 In honor of the triumph of science and the power of human thought, a holiday was established - Aviation and Cosmonautics Day, which is celebrated on April 12 all over the world The confrontation and rivalry between the superpowers, the USSR and the USA, during the Cold War was manifested not only in the arms race America claimed primacy in space programs, organizing spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral In February 1962, a US citizen flew around the Earth for the first time on a Mercury MA-6 - 41-year-old John Glen And on July 20, 1969, three American astronauts landed on the Moon This became another epochal event in the history of mankind In honor of the landing of Apollo 11, a holiday was established in the United States - Space Exploration Day, which is celebrated on July 20 American spending on the Space program was unprecedented for that time and amounted to $9 billion The USA dreamed of restoring its global prestige and taking the palm On December 21, 1968, American astronauts, being experienced test pilots, flew into space and entered the orbit of the Moon Having completed 10 orbits around the planet's satellite, James Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders returned safely The space mission that followed this flight a year later, Apollo 11, ended with the first landing of men on the Moon It took several days, lasting from July 16 to July 24 Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left the ship - walked into outer space and planted the US flag on the Moon The crew members took samples of lunar soil weighing about 22 kg and brought them safely to Earth Concerns expressed about possible bacteriological contamination of the Earth by organisms unknown to science turned out to be unfounded In America, the astronauts were greeted as national heroes - millions of joyful compatriots took to the streets of cities with flowers and posters The pilots were personally greeted immediately after landing by President Richard Nixon, standing at the window of the quarantine van The flight was widely covered by the media, as was the entire lunar mission, preparations for which took place under the guns of journalists' cameras The establishment of Space Exploration Day was one of the events planned by NASA, which wanted to perpetuate the historical event - the landing of people on the Moon The astronauts' trips around the United States were also broadcast on Soviet television In 1970, the Apollo 11 crew visited the USSR, where they were given a warm welcome and a banquet was organized in honor of N Armstrong's 40th birthday The birthday boy gave A Kosygin, who was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers at that time, a jar with a sample of lunar soil The program of flights to the Earth's satellite was curtailed in both the USA and the USSR due to the high cost Initially, no one planned to leave the Moon for decades But since 1969, manned flights with landing on a satellite have no longer been carried out In memory of this historical event, there are newsreels, memories of astronauts and the US national holiday - Space Day