Cosmonauts Novitsky and Vasilevskaya present BNTU with orbit-tested flags of Belarus and the university

Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya handed over flags of the Belarusian National Technical University and the Republic of Belarus that went into the Earth orbit, the university’s media centre reports

“Students’ meeting with cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Marina Vasilevskaya took place at the BNTU on October 17th. The event was informal, so the guests volunteered to answer any questions from the audience right away. Thanks to their detailed answers, our students learned a lot about life in space, as well as about other aspects of cosmonauts’ lives. The BNTU also got back its own flag along with the national one: not only did they go into orbit, they also got stamps from the International Space Station and the docking date. Both flags will find their place in the university museum”, the media centre informed.

BNTU Rector Sergei Kharitonchik pointed out the once-in-a-lifetime nature of the event in his address to the students.

“You have an opportunity to talk to cosmonauts, as well as a unique chance to learn something that would never be published in the media, or heard anywhere else,” he said.

As we reported earlier, a seminal event in the sovereign Belarus history took place in 2024: Marina Vasilevskaya became the first Belarusian citizen to go on a space flight. Later, Ms.Vasilevskaya was awarded the Hero of Belarus title. Oleg Novitsky, a Russian cosmonaut of Belarusian origin from the Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center team, Hero of Russia, and a honorary BNTU professor, was the crew commander. Novitsky and Vasilevskaya spent 14 days in space, 12 of them – on the ISS.

Photo: BNTU media centre press service