Meet a spaceman

TWO RUSSIAN cosmonauts will get a rare chance to compare life in space with the trials and tribulations of Cypriot life next month when they arrive on our shores to talk space and Sputniks as part of the Fakas Institute’s ‘50 Years in Space’ celebrations.
The two cosmonauts, Alexander Volkgov and Alexander Martynov, will be in Cyprus from December 13 to 20 to give two public lectures titled, ‘From Sputnik to Mars’ and ‘Experiences from space’.

Volkgov clocked up plenty of space time during his career, receiving numerous awards and medals for his services, but his most memorable trip was probably in 1991 when he went to the Mir space station. Volkgov, along with Sergei K. Krikalev (dubbed ‘the last citizen of the USSR’) found themselves orbiting Earth while down below the Soviet Union was crumbling apart. Although both had gone into orbit as Soviet citizens, the cosmonauts eventually returned to Earth as Russian citizens.

The lectures will be held on Monday, December 17 at Nicosia Municipal Theatre and the following day at Limassol Town Hall. Both lectures will be open to the public. On Saturday, December 15, the cosmonauts will visit astronomy shops selling products like telescopes.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.