Flags of Armenia and Yerevan sent to ISS for a space tripMay 24, 2018 - 12:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A Russian philanthropist of Armenian origin, Grachya Pogosyan undertook the symbolic move of sending the flags of Armenia and Yerevan to a space trip several months ago, NovostiNK.ru reports. The flags are currently on the International Space Station (ISS) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia and the 2800th anniversary of the foundation of Yerevan. Pogosyan talked to the first vice-president of the north-western chapter of the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities Oleg Mukhin about his proposal to send the flags to a space travel. At the same time, he appealed to the Armenian Apostolic Church to receive blessing for the initiative. On March 2, Poghosyan met Armenia’s ambassador to Russia Vardan Toghanyan in Moscow. Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev, who ended up delivering the flags to the ISS, was also attending the meeting at the Embassy. The philanthropist and the ambassador handed over the flags to the cosmonaut in solemn atmosphere, and on March 21 Artemyev set off for a long expedition on board the ISS-55/56 as part of the Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft crew alongside NASA astronauts Andrew J. Feustel and Richard R. Arnold II. On board the ISS, they were met by Anton Shkaplerov (Russia), Scott D. Tingle (NASA, USA) and Norishige Kanai (Japan). The flags of Armenia are currently orbiting the planet Earth in anticipation of return. The Russian space crew will return to Earth in September. In October, a delegation from Russia, including the cosmonauts, will arrive in Yerevan to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the First Republic of Armenia and the 2800th anniversary of the foundation of Erebuni-Yerevan. The delegation will hand over the flags to the leaders of Armenia and the city of Yerevan. 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 | IDBank issues 2nd tranche of dollar bonds of 2024 On May 13, 2024, IDBank placed registered coupon bonds under the abbreviation AMANLBB2PER9. Russia provides info about arrested Armenian ex-MP Russian law enforcement agencies have provided information about the arrest of Tigran Urikhanyan. 41 detained as antigovernment protests continue in Yerevan 41 people were detained in Yerevan as people demanding Pashinian’s resignation stage campaigns of civil disobedience. Armenia votes for UN resolution granting Palestine new rights The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on May 10 to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine. |