cosmonaut Kirill Peskov visited a coal mine in his native Nazarov / Society news of Krasnoyarsk and the Krasnoyarsk Territory / Newslab.Ru

Cosmonaut Kirill Peskov, who became the first representative of the Krasnoyarsk Territory to be in orbit, visited his hometown of Nazarovo.

The visit program turned out to be eventful and emotional: the cosmonaut met with his fellow countrymen, shared his impressions of the flight and remembered the places where he spent his childhood and youth.

One of the highlights was the trip to the Nazarovsky open-pit mine. The coal miners greeted the astronaut with applause and sincere words of joy. Kirill enjoyed talking with the employees, answering questions and taking memorable photographs. The cosmonaut was very impressed by the views of the Nazarovo section; it is not without reason that many guests often compare them with Martian landscapes.

“While in space, I saw that the scale of the section was very amazing: its area was commensurate with the residential area of ​​the entire city,” the cosmonaut shared. “When I looked at the cut both from above and from the inside, I realized that this was truly an amazing sight and an amazing technique! A real difficult man’s job!”

Kirill Peskov admitted that what he liked most in the cabin of the ESH-20/90 walking excavator was to look at the process of its work: “For me it was a small discovery that for work you need a good vestibular apparatus, about the same as a pilot or astronaut. This is because the excavator is constantly rotating from side to side. The scale and power of all these machines is amazing. I also wondered from an engineering point of view, who drew and built all this? And from an operator’s point of view, what is it like to operate them?”

It is noteworthy that this is not the first visit of astronauts to the cut. In 1986, the enterprise was visited by USSR pilot cosmonaut Alexey Gubarev, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, and in the period 2017-2021. Sergei Volkov, the world's first hereditary cosmonaut, Hero of Russia, who now works at the Mining Company, came several times.

Viktor Gubanov, branch manager of JSC SUEK-Krasnoyarsk, shared his memories of meetings with astronauts: “The second time I had the opportunity to meet an astronaut was at the Nazarovsky open-pit mine. The first for me was Sergei Volkov, and now our fellow countryman Kirill Peskov. I am sincerely glad that such people glorify our hometown. I am familiar with rocket launches firsthand: in 1986-1988. I served at Baikonur. It was from there that Yuri Gagarin and many other famous cosmonauts made their first flight into space. Rocket takeoffs cannot be compared with anything else; it is truly an unforgettable spectacle!”

As a token of gratitude for the warm welcome, Kirill Peskov donated a unique photograph he took from orbit to the Nazarovsky Mine Museum. The photograph clearly shows Nazarovo and the Nazarovo section itself – this is a look from space at their native places.

During the visit, he also met with students from school No. 14 and donated memorabilia from space to the Museum and Exhibition Center. Kirill also visited the city mural of the Smena festival of the Melnichenko Foundation called “Conqueror of the Depths,” created by the authors under the impression of his flight. This wall image organically echoes the motifs of space, the work of miners and power engineers.

The next point on the route was the Nazarovo fishery, which has been operating for about 40 years. The company is the only producer of catfish and the largest producer of carp in the region; trout, sturgeon, sterlet, grass carp and Japanese carp are also bred here. Kirill shared his memories of childhood and fishing, and also tried local catfish soup.

At the end of the visit, Kirill Peskov held a meeting with townspeople at the City Palace of Culture. In the large hall, schoolchildren, employees of key enterprises, activists of the youth councils of the Nazarovo State District Power Plant, the Nazarovo open-pit mine, the Nazarovo Mechanical Repair Plant and other city structures gathered to meet with the legendary fellow countryman.

Natalya Tetina, a specialist in the administrative and economic department of Nazarovskaya GRES, noted: “I was impressed by the meeting with Kirill. He spoke captivatingly about life, space and cosmonaut training, answered questions and signed autographs. We showed him the photograph that we sent into space together with our colleagues, and in return he conveyed a memorable greeting for our museum.”

For May 1, the cosmonaut’s birthday, Nazarovites united and prepared a touching surprise: under the slogan “Kirill, you are space!” coal miners lined up in the letter “R”, symbolizing the Nazarovsky Open-pit mine, and employees of the Nazarovskaya State District Power Plant formed the letter “T”, transferring heat from the power engineers. This sincere gesture clearly demonstrated how proud the townspeople were of their fellow countryman and his cosmic feat.

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