Today, March 25, as a part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight into outer space, Rossotrudnichestvo is launching in 48 countries worldwide an international education program called Cosmic Odyssey, which is aimed at raising the level of interest in foreign countries toward Russian achievements in space exploration and in the study of the Russian language. The program has the slogan “Russian Language Was the First Language of Communication in Space.”
Delegations of Russian cosmonauts will be sent to 22 countries to take part in conferences and roundtable discussions with the public abroad, including students and compatriots. The delegations will include both veteran and active cosmonauts, academics and experts in space exploration.
The program was launched in Kazakhstan, the starting point for the famous launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Cosmonaut and Hero of Russia Yuri Malenchenko together with his Kazakh colleagues – director of the National Aerospace Agency and cosmonaut Talgat Musabaev and cosmonaut Tokhtar Aubakirov took part in the opening of the Path to the Stars exhibition at the Museum of the First President of Kazakhstan.
Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service
