International Cosmonautics Day

Cosmonautics Day is an anniversary celebrating the successful first manned space flight by the 27-year-old Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on the 12th of April, 1961. In 2011, at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly, 12 April was also declared as the International Day of Human Space Flight in dedication of the first manned space flight by Yuri Gagarin, whose name is known all over the world, aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.

Following the successful first manned space flight and earning the title of ‘First Cosmonaut’, Yuri Gagarin made his first visit to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) 8 months later on the 7th of December 1961.

2022 is also noteworthy as the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, a Russian Soviet as well celebrates her 85th birthday. She was the first woman to travel into space on June 16, 1963 onboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft, which completed 48 orbits in 71 hours.
Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova both visited Sri Lanka as special guests to promote Peace and friendship among nations. 
The  photos of that visit will be on display alongside some rare pictures of that period provided from Russian archives by the Russian informational agency RIA Novosti.

Celebrating the International Cosmonautics Day 2022, the Russian House in Colombo, in collaboration with the Public Library Colombo and Sri Lanka - Russia Friendship Association, is organizing a series of events to share information about human space exploration, first manned space flights by Soviet Russian cosmonauts and humanity's great achievements on its track in developing space technologies.

Opening of a photographic exhibition, a screening of the movie ‘The First in Space’, and a public lecture by Dr. Janaka Adassuriya - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Colombo entitled: ‘Modern Astronomy Through Space Exploration’ are scheduled to be conducted during this event.  

This event will be held on Saturday, the 9th of April 2022, at the Public Library Colombo from 10 am onwards.
All are welcome!