Russia is celebrating the Day of Cosmonautics on April 12. The decree to commemorate this day was signed April 9, 1962 by the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
On April 12, 1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, making a 108-minute orbital flight in Vostok 1 spacecraft. The first spaceflight orbited the Earth one time.
On April 7, 2011 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which officially proclaimed April 12th the International Day of Human Space Flight.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called cooperation in the space industry an important area of cooperation between Russia and the United States.
"Despite whatever difficulties we face on the ground people in space work shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, help each other and implement the most important tasks facing not only our countries but the whole mankind," – said the Russian President during a video link-up with the International Space Center (ISS). "This is a very important area of cooperation with the United States as well as the other countries," the President noted.
Speaking about Vostochny cosmodrome, Putin stressed that the new site is mainly designed to benefit the Russian economy and develop international cooperation. "We expect to carry out commercial, and gradually, manned launches, including in the interests of our partners, as soon as the new Vostochny cosmodrome is available," – cites the President RIA Novosti.
Soviet and Russian cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union and the first Hero of Russia Sergei Krikalev, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza stressed that today the cooperation between the Russian Federation and the United States in the space industry helps to maintain constructive relations. "No matter what differences we have on the political level, when we engage in a difficult, significant program which has been lasting for years, we rely on each other, help each other, take care of each other. I believe that the good relations, which have been established between the two countries in the space program, help us to improve relationships. They can serve as an example for other areas," - he said.
Experts of the US non-governmental organization Space Foundation agree with Sergei Krikalev. Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer, Elliot Pulham, said that "the two most important achievements is the transformation from a two-nation 'race', to an international collaboration involving more than 100 countries. The current evolution of the global space enterprise includes private investment and attracts commercial space enterprise on a significant industrial scale," TASS cited him as saying.
The head of the Space Foundation believes that "certainly there still is important competition going on between nations and companies in outer space". But "the fact that these same ‘competitors’ are also is of great importance," - he believes.
Pulham recalled the Apollo-Soyuz program, which "was the first time the competitors become partners, and this continued with Shuttle-Mir and of course the ISS program," - he added. "Those first steps taken together by the United States and Russia serve as an example of how to compete and cooperate at the same," - Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer concluded.
Pulham’s opinion is shared by former NASA astronaut and Space Foundation Special Advisor Leroy Chiao, who made a total of four space flights aboard US space shuttles and Russia’s Soyuz carrier rocket. During his missions he performed six space walks and in 2004-2005 worked with Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station.
When asked about the main achievements in space exploration over the past 55 years, he noted that in a technological sense "the main achievements were getting humans into space in the first place, then landing on the Moon, building a reusable, multi-purpose Space Shuttle and organizing a truly international coalition to build and operate the International Space Station."
"By taking these steps, we have set the stage to explore further and deeper into space. In a philosophical sense, the greatest achievement is getting off of our planet to strive towards our neighboring planets in our solar system. This shows that humans are no longer content to be Earth-bound and that we are explorers by nature," - the former NASA astronaut noted.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden drew attention to the transition to broad international cooperation in the space sphere. Now, instead of rivalry between Washington and Moscow, "there is a competition of ideas," the NASA administrator said.
According to Bolden, the US experts are ready to discuss new proposals with other countries that can also participate in a journey to Mars. "We want to continue the dialogue on this issue with all the participants in the ISS program - the space agencies of Russia, Canada, Japan and Europe," - he noted.
