MOSCOW, April 12. /TASS/. Cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, who is a TASS special correspondent aboard the International Space Station (ISS), and his crewmates Nikolay Chub and Alexander Grebenkin, congratulated Russians on the Cosmonautics Day.
"Dear friends, congratulations on the Cosmonautics Day! This year, we are marking the 90th birthday of Yury Alexeyevich Gagarin, who ushered the humanity into the space era. The name of the planet’s first cosmonauts is written in stone in the global history, and we are proud to continue what our predecessors had begun by advancing Russian space exploration," Oleg Kononenko said in a video address released by Roscosmos.
Chub thanked Russian space industry workers for their contribution.
"Keeping in memory those who were at the origins of the rocket and space industry development, we also remember thousands of employees, whose daily work allowed to put into practice what our great designers had invented," he added.
Grebenkin emphasized that cosmonauts have a plenty of new and interesting work, which can be successfully accomplished "only by uniting around the great objective of space exploration."
"We wish all our compatriots and colleagues good health and prosperity, new successes and achievements. Happy holiday, friends! Happy Cosmonautics Day!" he said.
On April 12, Russia celebrates Cosmonautics Day, which was established by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 9, 1962, "to mark the first human space flight." In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing April 12 as the International Day of Human Space Flight.