Turkmenistan is celebrating Cosmonautics Day today (12 April 2024). The president and the National Leader of Turkmenistan have sent congratulatory messages to Oleg Kononenko, the current commander of ISS.
Kononenko was born in Turkmenistan and received his schooling in the Turkmenabat city of the Lebap province.
President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said in his message, “You have opened new pages in the history of astronautics. We are proud of your achievements in the study and exploration of outer space.”
The message of the National Leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov says, “As a representative of a noble profession, you consistently contribute to the development of modern science, which can improve the life of all humanity.”
A ceremony will be held in Ashgabat to place flowers at the bust of Gagarin, the pioneering cosmonaut of the Soviet Union.
It will take place at the territory of the Department of Education, Science and Culture of the Embassy of the Russian Federation.
The ceremony will begin at 15:30 local time at the address: Saparmurat Turkmenbashi Avenue, 11 (entrance from the 1st park).
The monument to Yuri Gagarin in Ashgabat was inaugurated in April 2021. The bronze bust, created by sculptor Alexei Leonov, depicts the smiling space age pioneer in a spacesuit.
International Aviation and Cosmonautics Day is celebrated annually on April 12 to commemorate the first human flight into space in world history, accomplished by Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961.