New Delhi, October 11 (H.S.): Dmitry Vladimirovich Matveev (Denis Matveev), associated with the Russian space agency Roscosmos, did not want to become an astronaut in his childhood. However, at the age of 27, he bid farewell to the field of engineering and emerged before the world as an astronaut.

While participating in a program at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in the national capital on Friday, Matveev told Hindusthan Samachar, “I didn’t want to be an astronaut as a child because I saw my father working in this field. But perhaps it is those very childhood memories that made me what I am today, standing before all of you.”

Matveev studied engineering and, after graduation, joined the Gagarin Centre. His greatest achievement was the Soyuz MS-21 mission, which was launched in 2022 from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome. As the second flight engineer, he spent more than 195 days on the International Space Station (ISS) along with Commander Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov.

He said, “Space is like a very beautiful dream, completely different from Earth. As soon as we reach space, we truly become weightless in every sense.”

When asked how far human intervention in space is justified, he said, “We humans are explorers by nature, and perhaps it is because of this spirit of exploration that we today benefit from all kinds of scientific experiments in modern life. Our exploration of space is a new step in this direction.”

Honored with the Hero of the Russian Federation award, Matveev is very optimistic about cooperation between India and Russia in the field of space.

He said, “There are immense possibilities for collaboration between the two countries in this field, and I hope that the relations between them will grow even stronger in this direction.”

Speaking about the broad commercial and economic aspects of space research, he said that this sector is developing rapidly and its sustainable growth is essential. This, he added, will only be possible through partnership.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar