Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 10 September (BelTA) – The 31st Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers will enhance Belarusian image as space explorer, Sergei Zolotoi, Director of the Geoinformation Systems company of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, chief designer of the Belarusian space system for the remote sensing of Earth, told BelTA on the sidelines of the congress.

“We are happy to welcome representatives of the space elite from all over the world. It is very prestigious and it will reinforce Belarusian international image,” Sergei Zolotoi said.

Belarus’ representatives are set to meet with representatives of the space agencies of Russia and Ukraine and of the European Space Agency. “Such a forum provides an opportunity to talk in person to space explorers and scientific community and discuss many issues. Such discussions may give rise to new ideas and new views of a problem,” the scientist added.

The congress will see technical sessions on difficult situations faced by cosmonauts. “These problems are associated not only with equipment but also with the human factor. A number of studies are connected with the human physiology in space, with the possibility of long interplanetary voyages. We gradually gain experience in long-duration stays in space. Life-support and energy technologies are connected with it. Psychological problems are also important. Several experiments are conducted to study human psychology in a confined space with a limited number of people, to understand whether a person can react adequately to critical situations. Space is a mystery for us and cosmonauts frequently have to deal with extraordinary situations that cannot be foreseen on Earth. A person’s life depends on their behavior,” Sergei Zolotoi noted.

Minsk is playing host to the 31st Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers on 9-15 September. The Association of Space Explorers is an international not-for-profit organization established in 1985 to share the best practices in the area of manned space flights. The international congress gathers cosmonauts and representatives of scientific research institutions and national space agencies on an annual basis.