MINSK, January 6President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko held a meeting with Belarusians who are preparing to fly into space, Sputnik Belarus reported on Saturday.
«The main participant in the upcoming space flight, Marina Vasilevskaya, and the backup, Anastasia Lenkova, came to the Palace of Independence (the working residence of the Belarusian president — ed.) to meet with the head of state. The girls are being trained at the Research Testing Center for Cosmonaut Training named after Yu.A. Gagarin. It is expected that the space flight will take place this year,” the message says.
According to the agency, Lukashenko congratulated the space program participants on the New Year and Merry Christmas, giving flowers and a wristwatch. “What if you confuse the time… But I set the exact Belarusian time,” the head of state noted with humor.
«So, shall we fly? Or have you changed your mind?» — asked Lukashenko. The girls confidently answered that the plans remained the same and the flight into space would definitely take place. “But we will wait for you here,” Lukashenko said.
He clarified whether the main participant and the backup are trained according to the same program. It turned out that this is indeed the case. “The most important thing is that there is no jealousy. You will not disappear anyway. You were chosen out of millions of girls,” added the head of state.
After the meeting, the astronauts told reporters that on Monday, January 8, they were returning to Star City in the Moscow region to continue preparing for the flight. They will have complex training, exams, and then departure to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where final preparation for the flight will take place.
“»Strength, combat determination — everything is enough. I realized (during training — ed.) that weightlessness is «my element. We worked everything according to plan, so we are ready (for the flight — ed.) … Time flies by very quickly — at cosmic speed. It seems that we recently arrived in Star City — and the flight is already in March,» said Vasilevskaya.< br />She said that astronauts are allowed to take only one kilogram of personal belongings into orbit. “Of course, I’ll take my childhood family photo. Naturally, the Belarusian flag, the Olympic flag, the flag of the Academy of Sciences,” Vasilevskaya noted.