“To become a cosmonaut is very very easy!” that was the answer of the famous Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov to one of the Indian student’s questions “How can we become cosmonaut like you”?

On April 3^rd, the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Chennai celebrated the International Cosmonautics Day. Space Kids India and the RCSC in Chennai prepared an educational and entertainment program for school children of the city Chennai on the theme “the first manned flight into space and the development of space technology in Russia”.

The Honorary Guests of the event were Dr. Srimathy Kesan, Director of the Space Kidz India and Dr. Soudararajaperumal, Executive Director of the Tamilnadu Science and Technology Centre.

The most interesting part of the program was the online communication in which the participants had a unique chance to ask question to Salizhan Sharipov, the famous Russian cosmonaut, who was on video conference. The hero of Russia told the children about his two flights into space and the life on the International Space Station. A live online tour of the cosmonaut training center evokes a specific delight among children, during which the real parts of the space station were shown.

Further, Salizhan Sharipov answered the numerous questions of school children, about the training of cosmonauts, their nutrition in space, the recovering process after the flight and many more.

Also during the program, a documentary film about the life of Yuri Gagarin before and after first flight into space was screened for the audience.

 At the end of the program, a quiz was held for children on the theme of space exploration.