. Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the Medal of Pushkin, to Ian Blatchford. Blatchford was the director of Science Museum London’s Cosmonauts: The Birth of the Space age exhibition. This exhibit tells the story of how Russia turned the dream of space travel into reality, and is the first nation to venture out to space. Russian Federation awards the Medal of Pushkina (medal’ Pushkina), a state decoration to citizens for their achievements in arts, culture and humanities. It is named in honour of Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799-1837), a Russian novelist, poet and playwright of the Romantic era, considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. On Thursday 10th Dec, President Putin personally placed the medal upon Mr. Blatchford. He was one of a few foreigners who received the medal, along with the Chairman of Lotte Mr Dong Bin Shin (Korean financial-industrial company) and Consuelo De Haviland (French representative of Russian Railways). Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the Medal of Pushkin to Ian Blatchford as Director of Science Museum of London. Image: Kremlin. A number of Russians received medals. These included Evgeni Podubny (a Russian state television journalist, whose reporting is credited with paving the path for Russia’s intervention into Syria), Sergei Ryazansky, an opera singer, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, who were cosmonauts. After receiving his medal, Mr. Blatchford stated to Mr. Putin that he had come to love Russia. ‘Cosmonauts. Birth of the Space Age’ features the largest collection of Russian artifacts and spacecraft ever shown in Britain. It includes Vostok 6 (the first woman to fly spacecraft), Voskhod 1 (the first to transport more than one person), and the LK-3 Lunar Lander. This was a spacecraft designed to rival Apollo. (Image: sciencemuseum.org.uk) Mr. Blatchford’s speech ended with what he said was his favourite phrase in Russian “Slava Gagarinu” (“Slava Gagarina” – “Glory to Gagarin”). Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarinl (1934-1968), a Russian Soviet pilot/cosmonaut was. His Vostok spacecraft orbited the Earth in April 12th. 1961. He became the first person to do so. The Cosmonauts: Birth of the Space Age exhibit will remain open until 13March, 2016. Cost: PS14 (concessions available). Online bookings are possible or you can call 0 4868. to make a reservation. Professor Brian Cox stated that after visiting the exhibit, he would like to see a new exhibition about the Science Museum’s history of Russian space travel.
