Putin to visit Mission Control Centre near Moscow

MOSCOW, January 11 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
will on Tuesday visit the Mission Control Centre in Korolyov near Moscow
to hold a meeting of a committee that will organize the celebrations of
the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into outer space. The
meeting will also discuss the implementation of a plan of main events
devoted to the jubilee date, the government press service reports.
Vladimir Putin will also see the work of the Mission Control Centre.
The organizing committee was set up on July 31, 2008, following a
decree of the Russian president on celebrating the 50th anniversary of
Yuri Gagarin's flight into outer space. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is
the committee's head.
The organizing committee has approved a plan of preparations for the
celebrations, including the construction of new museum facilities and
cultural institutions and the reconstruction and renovation of the old
ones in the town of Gagarin and other places that are directly linked to
man's first flight to outer space. Other measures include the organisation
of festivals, exhibitions and expositions, including at the All-Russian
Exhibition Centre and at aerospace shows in 2010-2011, as well as the
holding of jubilee conferences, Olympiads and contests.
The Russian government is planning to institute a state award (medal)
and a prize to commend contribution to developing Russian space science
and provide material assistance for the veterans of the space industry and
those who took part in launching the world's first cosmonaut into outer
space.