11 March 2006

BEIRUT: Cosmonaut Alexei A. Leonov, the first human being to step outside a spacecraft and float freely in space, will be visiting Lebanon on Monday "to make sure that the Lebanon he saw from outer space is the same on Earth."

Local daily Al-Balad published an interview with Leonov by Alexander Kfoury of the Novosty Russian news agency, in which Leonov said: "My visit to Lebanon comes upon the request of the Russian Foreign Ministry with the agreement of the Lebanese authorities, after I visited Syria, Saudi Arabia and Iran."

Leonov added: "The code word of my fellow astronaut Yuri Gagarin was 'cedar,' and the cedar is the symbol of Lebanon. ... I remember I saw Lebanon from my spaceship when it was surfing above the Middle East," he added.

Leonov said: "Lebanon looked fantastic from outer space. That is why I decided to come and visit.

"I intend to visit several cities during my stay in Lebanon, and I will organize a photo exhibition of my time in space. I also intend to meet several people," he said.

"The most amazing thing for me in outer space is not the absence of the law of gravity but the ability to see the sun, moon and Earth all at the same time," he added.

Leonov talked about the impressions he used to get while he was in space and said: "The impressions are many. First there is the visual, that is the bluish Earth and the black sky and the sun and stars."

The second thing you notice is the complete silence, he said: "Everything used to be so calm I could hear my heart beat.

"All astronauts say the same thing: It's beautiful, unlimited, and our home, so let's protect it," Leonov said.

"I have been the head of an organization called Astronaut since 1985, and we issued a very important book titled "Our Blue Planet, Earth," Leonov continued.

As to what he is currently doing, Leonov said: "I now have another job as the vice president of Alfa Bank and the President of the financial institution Bering-Foe Stock Capital. I flew with honor all these years and I left the job not for health reasons but for political reasons." He did not specify those reasons.

Leonov added: "I paint every morning and every evening. The subjects of my paintings are varied, I draw natural sceneries.

"However I haven't lost my contact with space traveling and astronauts," he said. - The Daily Star