April 12th is celebrated as Cosmonautics Day every year. On this day 56 years ago a citizen of the Soviet Union Senior Lieutenant Yuri Gagarin for the first time in human history circled the Earth aboard the Vostok spacecraft, and thus started the era of manned spaceflights.
The flight that lasted only 108 minutes became a powerful breakthrough in space exploration. The name of Yuri Gagarin became famous around the world, and the first cosmonaut himself advanced in rank to Major ahead of schedule, was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and once and for all etched his name and this flight into the world history.
To commemorate the first Earth orbital flight of men in April of 1962, the Cosmonautics Day was officially established.
The celebrations of this day held at South Ural State University are always particularly heart-felt and considerate. This is related to development of programs of the SUSU Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, the existing demand for it, as well as to high activity of the Faculty’s students themselves since it is often them who initiate all the events on the occasion of Cosmonautics Day.
This year students from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering have prepared the following events jointly with the university employees:
- April 5th gave the start to How’re You Doing, Descendants? Contest on the official I Love SUSU VK web-page, which was initiated by the SUSU’s Marketing and Strategic Communications Department. Students are invited to share in a simple form on their scientific inventions, projects and works. Each post should end with hashtags #нукаквытампотомки, #ястудентюургу and #ялюблююургу. The contest results will be announced on April 12th, and the first three winners will receive space-related prizes – cosmonaut food kits.
- April 7th at 9:00 Young Progressors Olympiad will start at SUSU;
- April 7th at 15:00 all students are invited to take part in Gagarin Sports Competition, which will include competitions on darts, table tennis, and chess.
- April 10th at 15:00 a relay race for SUSU students will be held at the SUSU’s indoor athletic stadium. The relay will be devoted to Cosmonautics Day and will consist of four 200-meter races.
- April 12th at 13:05 Across the Universe Contest will be held in the hall of the Main University Building.
For details of each event, please check the university web-site, as well as I Love SUSU official VK web-page.
All SUSU students and employees are welcome to participate in the events.