Talgat Mussabayev. ©Yaroslav Radlovsky
Talgat Mussabayev, Head of KazKosmos National Space Agency, does not support the idea of declaring October 2 the day of Kazakhstan’s cosmonautics. Last week Senator Gani Kassymov suggested declaring October 2 a national holiday to celebrate Kazakhstan’s cosmonautics: October 2, 1991 the first Kazakhstan’s cosmonaut Tokhtar Aubakirov was launched to space. “The whole world celebrates the Cosmonautics day [renamed by the UN to the International Day of Human Space Flight] April 12 to commemorate the first flight of Yuri Gagrin to space in 1961. Why should Kazakhstan be different?”, Mussabayev told journalists September 19. Talgat Mussabayev is a Kazakh test pilot and former cosmonaut who flew on three spaceflights. His first two spaceflights were long-duration stays aboard the Russian space station Mir. His third spaceflight was a short duration visiting mission to the International Space Station, which also carried the first paying space tourist Dennis Tito.
Talgat Mussabayev, Head of KazKosmos National Space Agency, does not support the idea of declaring October 2 the day of Kazakhstan’s cosmonautics.
Last week Senator Gani Kassymov suggested declaring October 2 a national holiday to celebrate Kazakhstan’s cosmonautics: October 2, 1991 the first Kazakhstan’s cosmonaut Tokhtar Aubakirov was launched to space.
“The whole world celebrates the Cosmonautics day [renamed by the UN to the International Day of Human Space Flight] April 12 to commemorate the first flight of Yuri Gagrin to space in 1961. Why should Kazakhstan be different?”, Mussabayev told journalists September 19.
Talgat Mussabayev is a Kazakh test pilot and former cosmonaut who flew on three spaceflights. His first two spaceflights were long-duration stays aboard the Russian space station Mir. His third spaceflight was a short duration visiting mission to the International Space Station, which also carried the first paying space tourist Dennis Tito.