President Serdar Berdimuhamedov sent heartfelt congratulations to the Hero of Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation, instructor-test cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko on the occasion of Cosmonautics Day celebrated today, reports the “Neutral Turkmenistan” newspaper.

“The study and exploration of outer space is an integral part of modern science and opens up new development prospects for all mankind. With your many years of work, you make a great contribution to this noble cause”, - the congratulatory letter of the President of Turkmenistan says.

Serdar Berdimuhamedov wished Oleg Kononenko good health, prosperity and high achievements in his responsible work.

Let us remind that Oleg Kononenko, commander of the cosmonaut corps of the “Roscosmos” State Corporation for Space Activities, was born in the Turkmen SSR in the city of Chardzhou (now Turkmenabat) in 1964. In 2009 he became the Hero of the Russian Federation, in 2019 he was awarded the title of Hero of Turkmenistan.

The date of Cosmonautics Day - April 12 - was set in honor of the first manned flight into space. On this day in 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on the “Vostok-1” spacecraft launched from the “Baikonur” Cosmodrome and for the first time in the world made an orbital flight around the planet Earth.