Cosmonauts Day
Cosmonauts Day
Official ceremonies on this day begin in the Moscow suburb of Korolyov, well-known as the center of Russian rocket production, where officials and former cosmonauts lay flowers at a statue of Gagarin. Participants then walk to Red Square and Gagarin's grave at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. They then proceed to Gagarin's statue in Cosmonauts Alley, a nearby walkway that leads to the Monument to the Conquerors of Space, and end at Gagarin's grave in the Novodevichy Cemetery.
The general public celebrates the day in a less formal manner. Some place flowers at statues of Gagarin in various cities, while others attend space-themed art and film exhibitions or fashion shows featuring designs based on cosmonaut spacesuits and helmets. Moscow's Institute of Medico-Biological Problems, which produces the food and beverages that cosmonauts use in space, has opened its doors for the general public to taste samples of space food, including vacuum-packed vodka. In 2007, Russian and American astronauts aboard the international space station celebrated the day with a six-course meal provided by Martha Stewart.
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