NASA astronaut awards female pilot of Armenian origin for leadershipDecember 6, 2017 - 14:23 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Heide Piper, a NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy Captain, has awarded pilot of Armenian origin Nadezhda Benklian for female empowerment and leadership. Piper has received numerous honors and awards, such as the Meritorious Service Medal, two Navy Commendation Medals, and two Navy Achievement Medals. She has flown on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-115 and STS-126, during which she completed five spacewalks totaling 33 hours and 42 minutes. As of 2017, she ranks 39th on the all-time list of space walkers by duration Piper presented awards to notable and courageous female alumni of the Aviation University in Tbilisi and a the Maritime Academy in Batumi. Benklian is the first and only female pilot in Georgia's civil aviation and works at the Georgian Airways. "It is a great honor for me, especially because the award was given to me by such a significant person. It's such an incredible feeling when such a person admires you. It turns out that she wanted to become a pilot, but was unable to due to vision problems," Benklyan said, according to Sputnik Georgia. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |