Russian cosmonauts, Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, who are currently onboard the International Space Station (ISS), congratulated the Russians on National Unity Day, which is celebrated today, on November 4.
“With this holiday, we pay tribute to the memory of the long-standing events of 1612, when, in a single spiritual and military impulse, the people’s militia led by Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky liberated Moscow from foreign interventionists,” Shkaplerov said.
As reminded on the Roscosmos official website, the history of Russia is “the history of the struggle for independence, for the integrity of the state, for civil liberties”. The press service of the company stated that at crucial moments, all the people of Russia stood up as one to defend the statehood and independence of the country and “so it will always be.”
“Today we would like to wish all of you never to lose, but to preserve and cherish this feeling of national unity, the fraternal feeling of all Russians living in the vast territory of our great Motherland. Be healthy and take care of your loved ones,” Dubrov noted.
As specified, there are currently seven crew members onboard the ISS, in particular, Roscosmos cosmonauts Shkaplerov and Dubrov, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough, and Megan MacArthur, European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
It is also reported that the first spacewalk of Russian cosmonauts is scheduled for January 19, when they will have to lay cables between the Prichal and Nauka modules, according to the Russian Cosmos magazine.
According to the publication, on January 27 and February 2, two other spacewalks of Shkaplerov and Dubrov or astronaut Matthias Maurer are planned to be made to work with the European ERA manipulator. In addition, three other spacewalks will be made in January by cosmonauts Shkaplerov and Dubrov. Also, one will take place in April (Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev or Sergey Korsakov with astronaut Matthias Mauer), three in May, and one in June.
Ru-Main, 04.11.2021
Source: TASS
