The VIII All-Russian Cosmonautics and Aviation CosmoStart Forum CosmoStart has ended. It took place from November 30 to December 2 at 4 city venues and brought together more than 2,000 participants from 9 regions of Russia
On the first day of the Forum, at the grand opening in the hall of the Presidential Library, representatives of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, representatives of Roscosmos, as well as cosmonauts who are now part of the international crew of the ISS in near–Earth orbit addressed the participants. The organizers of the Forum contacted the ISS, thanks to which the Russian cosmonauts were able to answer the students' questions live. The Forum was attended by participants from Kazan, Ukhta, Zheleznogorsk, Volzhsky, Veliky Novgorod, Komi Republic and Krasnodar Territory.
In 2023, cosmonaut pilot, Hero of the Russian Federation Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and test cosmonaut, Hero of the Russian Federation Peter Dubrov became participants in the Forum’s traditional meeting with Russian cosmonauts "Heroes are not born, heroes become".
During the three days of the Forum, 10 experts worked on its sites, among them were outstanding specialists in the rocket, space and aviation industries, scientific journalists, and space popularizers.
The second day of CosmoStart was filled with bright events for school students from St. Petersburg and the regions, for students and anyone interested in aerospace topics. This year, students from more than twenty schools of St. Petersburg became part of the Forum.
St. Petersburg high school students learned about the development of the ISS, the rules of cosmonaut training, manned cosmonautics, cubesats, the Luna and Sphere projects. They had a unique opportunity to watch the launch of the rocket online – the Progress MS-25 spacecraft took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome. It has to deliver cargo to the International space Station.
On the second day of the Forum, a quest "Space Petersburg" was also held for school students, the end point of which was Planetarium Number 1. Completing the quest tasks provided an opportunity to gain new knowledge about the ISS and St. Petersburg.
The eighth CosmoStart Forum in 2023 was held both on-site and online. For viewers from other cities and countries, the Forum was broadcast from the regional collective work space Boiling Point – St. Petersburg. GUAP, where a virtual studio for speakers was organized. The events were broadcast for more than 7 hours and gained more than 1 million views.
On the final day of the Forum, a scientific battle for SUAI students and employees was held on the territory of the former Pulkovo-2 terminal. The participants presented their scientific projects in an exciting format, proving that science is interesting. The winner was chosen by the audience of the scientific battle. In addition, meetings with cosmonauts, lectures from experts and excursions were held in Pulkovo-2 on this day.
