MINSK, 8 January (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Belarusian cosmonauts who are preparing for a space flight, BelTA has learned.
Member of the main crew Marina Vasilevskaya and member of the back-up crew Anastasia Lenkova came to meet with the president at the Palace of independence. The specialists are getting ready for a space flight at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. The space flight may take place this year already.
Aleksandr Lukashenko wished the women a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas and presented flowers and watches to them. “Don’t get the time wrong… I have set the Belarusian time on them,” the head of state said jokingly.
“You are going to fly to outer space, aren’t you? Haven’t you changed your minds?” the president wondered.
The Belarusian cosmonauts assured the president that everything was going according to the plant and that the space flight would definitely take place.
“We will be waiting for you here,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
The head of state asked Marina Vasilevskaya and Anastasia Lenkova if their training programs were the same. “The only thing is that there should be no place for jealousy. You will not be left aside. You were chosen from millions of candidates,” the head of state said.
