Table of Contents
Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), cosmonauts (Russian), or taikonauts (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to spaceflights as participants or spacefarers.
The first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who launched on 12 April 1961 as part of the Soviet Union’s Vostok Program. This was towards the beginning of the Space Race. On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, as part of Project Mercury. Humans traveled to the Moon, nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States’ Apollo program, and have had a continuous presence in space for 21 years and 156 days on the International Space Station (ISS). As of 2021, humans have not traveled beyond low Earth Orbit since the Apollo 17 lunar mission in December 1972.
Grab latest study materials! Register here!
Currently, the United States, Russia, and China are the only countries with public or commercial human spaceflight-capable program. On 15 October 2003, the first Chinese taikonaut, Yang Liwei, went to space as part of Shenzou 5. Non-government spaceflight companies have been working to develop human space programs of their own, e.g. for space tourism or commercial in-space research. The first private human spaceflight launch was a sub-orbital flight on SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. The first commercial orbital crew launch was by SpaceX in May 2020, transporting NASA astronauts to the ISS under United States government contract.
Attempt GK quiz, Download Entri App!
Indian Human Spaceflight Programme
The Indian Human Spaceflight Programme (IHSP]) was initiated in 2007 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to develop the technology needed to launch crewed orbital spacecraft into low earth orbit The first uncrewed flight, named Gaganyaan 1, is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 2022 on a GSLV Mark III rocket.
Attempt GK quiz, Download Entri App
Before the Gaganyaan mission announcement in August 2018, human spaceflight was not a priority for ISRO, but it had been working on related technologies and it performed a Crew Module Atmospheric Re-entry experiment and a Pad Abort Test for the mission. In December 2018, the government approved further ₹ 100 billion (US$1.5 billion) for a 7-days crewed flight of 2–3 astronauts.
If completed in meantime, India will become the fourth nation to conduct independent human spaceflight after the Soviet Union /Russia, United States and China. After conducting the first crewed spaceflights, the agency intends to start a space station programme, crewed lunar landings, and crewed interplanetary missions in the long term
Grab latest study materials! Register here!
What is Indian human spaceflight programme?
| Country | India |
|---|---|
| Organization | Human Space Flight Center ( ISRO ) |
| Purpose | Human Spaceflight |
| Status | Active |
| Programme history | |
| Cost | ₹10,000 crore (US$1.3 billion) for maiden crewed mission |
| Duration | 2006–present 2018–present |
| First flight | Gaganyaan 1 (2022) |
| First crewed flight | Gaganyaan 3 (2023) |
| Launch site(s) |
|
| Vehicle information | |
| Launch vehicle(s) |
|
What spaceflight events are happening in 2022?
Grab latest study materials! Register here!
International Day of Human Space Flight
International Day of Human Space Flight on 12 April 2022 12 April marks the anniversary of the first human space flight by Yuri Gagarin (USSR) and is celebrated as International Day of Human Space Flight. Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Day on 13 April 2022.
