PM Modi Engages with Renowned Russian Cosmonaut, Celebrates Long-standing Space Collaboration
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Synopsis
Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev met PM Modi at the NXT event in New Delhi, sharing a historic moment that underscores the strong space ties between India and Russia. The meeting celebrated collaborative efforts in space exploration, including India's Gaganyaan mission.
Key Takeaways
- Meeting between PM Modi and cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev.
- Presentation of flags that flew aboard the ISS.
- Gift of Tsiolkovsky's book 'On the Moon'.
- Emphasis on India-Russia space collaboration.
- Highlighting Gaganyaan mission contributions.
New Delhi, March 1 (NationPress) Distinguished Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev had an engaging meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the NXT event at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Saturday, where he presented the Indian PM with flags of both nations that had previously been aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
During this brief yet meaningful encounter, Artemyev gifted PM Modi a book titled 'On the Moon', authored by the esteemed Russian theoretical space scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
In response, PM Modi expressed his admiration for the high level of international cooperation in space exploration, specifically highlighting the bilateral efforts between Russia and India in space initiatives, which includes India's role in the national manned space mission Gaganyaan, as noted by the Russian Embassy in India.
Born on December 28, 1970, in Riga (now part of the Republic of Latvia) to a military engineer, Artemyev grew up in Leninsk, Kazakhstan, where his father was stationed.
Since 1998, he has worked as a test engineer at the S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation (RKK) Energia located in Korolev, near Moscow, and played a crucial role in the preparations for the July 2000 launch of the Zvezda service module of the ISS.
Artemyev's inaugural space flight occurred from March to September 2014, serving as a flight engineer aboard the Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft during the 39th/40th main expedition to the ISS alongside Alexander Skvortsov and American astronaut Steven Swanson. He and Skvortsov conducted two spacewalks together.
From March to October 2018, he commanded the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft and was a flight engineer for the ISS-55/56 expedition.
His third journey into space took place from March 18 to September 29, 2022, as the commander of the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft and the ISS-67 expedition.
As reported by the Russian news agency Tass, Artemyev has accumulated a total of over 560 days, 18 hours, and seven minutes in space across three missions, during which he accomplished eight spacewalks.
The collaboration in the space sector between India and Russia dates back to the launch of the Aryabhata satellite, the historic journey of the first Indian, Rakesh Sharma, into space aboard Russia's Soyuz T-11 spacecraft in 1984, and the training of four Indian astronauts for the prestigious manned space mission Gaganyaan.
