Russia is marking the 50th anniversary of the first man in space. Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin was launched into space on April 12, 1961, using the Vostok spacecraft. He circled the Earth.
The flight became the start of the space era, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with CCTV on Tuesday.
Gagarin's flight was followed by many other flights, including moon landings.
Medvedev expressed honor for the achievement of the USSR. The first flight was more of an idealistic event. Modern space research is more pragmatic, he said.
Medvedev arrived at the Mission Control Center at the Central Research Institute of Engineering in Korolev where he contacted the crew of the International Space Station.
The crew consists of Dmitry Kondratyev (Russia), Paolo Nespoli (Italy) and Catherine Coleman (USA). Russian astronauts Alexander Samokutayev and Andrey Borisenko and a US astronaut Ronald Garan joined the crew last week using the Soyuz TMA-21 Gagarin.
The Mission Control Center is one of the largest research structures of the Russian Federal Space Agency. The institute was established in 1960. It currently manages the International Space Station and several satellites. 40 spacecraft are expected to be put for management in the next ten years.
The Mission Control Center managed the Salyut-6, Salyut-7 and Mir orbital stations, Buran shuttle, Luna, Venera, Mars, Fobos automatic stations, Okean-O, Meteor 3-M, Sich-1M, Foton-M N2 and Foton-M N3, Compas-2, Resurs-DK1, Sterkh, Koronas-Foton orbital spacecraft, Soyuz-Apollo, Intercosmos, Mir-Shuttle, Mir-NASA international programs.
President Dmitry Medvedev ordered 50 firework shots to be organized for the event at 22.00, Interfax reports.
