A Soyuz rocket with a portrait of Gagarin was installed at the Baikonur site
At the site of the Baikonur cosmodrome, a Soyuz-2.1a rocket with a Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft was installed, on which a new international crew will go to the ISS.
The launch will take place on the eve of the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's orbital flight.
In this regard, the rocket nose fairing is decorated with a portrait of the world's first cosmonaut and the inscription “Year of Gagarin 1961-2021”. In addition, the rocket received a name in honor of Yuri Gagarin, it is applied to the skin of the “Union”, according to RIA Novosti.
The launch is scheduled for April 9, at 10.42 Moscow time. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov and American astronaut Mark Vande Hai will go to the ISS.
Earlier it became known that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will issue commemorative coins of 25 rubles in silver and base metal, timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the first manned flight into space.
On the obverse of the coins there will be a relief image of the coat of arms of Russia, on the back – images of a figure of a man with wings against the background of the starry sky.
