News

April 12, 2013
Cosmonautics Day is a professional holiday celebrated by the collective of RSC Energia known as the pioneer of national rocket technology and world cosmonautics

S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, science city Korolev and Moscow arranged ceremonial events devoted to the Cosmonautics Day.

This holiday is central to the enterprise collective space-related activities. The enterprise is the pioneer in different fields of rocket-space technology and cosmonautics from building the first national long-range missiles and forming the basis for rocket-nuclear shield of the country to implementing world practical cosmonautics projects opening space age to mankind and era of human space flights. The main directions of activities in the above fields included building the first combat rocket complexes and launch vehicles; development and launches of artificial Earth satellites for scientific and applied purposes; unmanned spacecraft and interplanetary stations; rocket systems and systems to deliver various cargoes to near-earth orbits and flight paths to Moon and Solar system planets; manned space vehicles and complexes. The Cosmonautics Day is intimately associated with the enterprise collective activities, performed under the direction of academician S.P. Korolev, its General Designer and founder, which resulted in building rocket-space complex Vostok, manufacture and launch of its space vehicle Vostok and the pioneer flight of man, our compatriot Yu.A. Gagarin, onboard.

Following the well-established tradition, on this day the delegations consisting of the managers and work collective representatives from S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, representatives from Korolev science city administration and community, the Corporation veterans, cosmonauts corps; young scientists and specialists put flowers at the memorial plaques and monuments to outstanding scientist and designer S.P. Korolev on the Corporation premises and in the science city. Also the flowers were laid at the S.P. Korolev's monument, as well as at the monuments to prominent leaders of national cosmonautics and the heroes-cosmonauts on the Heroes' Alley of the Cosmonautics Museum Memorial Complex, at the Kremlin wall and other burial places in Moscow.

On this festive day, the enterprise divisions, including its Baikonur branch, held the collectives meetings attended also by the veterans, many of which had taken part in building the first models of rocketry and rocket-space technology.

"Doors Open Day" was arranged for the enterprise young specialists and employees in the Corporation Museum and the Center for Technologies Development and Personnel Training. The Museum and the Center exhibit the first national long-range ballistic missiles, space launch vehicles, satellites sand automatic stations for flights to Moon, Mars, Venus; the pioneer manned space vehicles and other rocket-space technology articles, including modern and advanced projects. Of particular interest in the Museum is a unique exhibit, the descent module of space vehicle Vostok which performed with Yu.A. Gagarin onboard a single orbit flight around the globe, deorbiting and landing on the territory of our country on April 12, 1961. The Cosmonautics Day which has been celebrated for many years by the world public was introduced to mark this historical flight.