FROM BAIKONUR TO THE STARS
The Baikonur Cosmodrome was built in the 1_. It
was the first cosmodrome in the world, and it is still the
largest and the busiest. It is located in the desert steppe
in Kazakhstan, about?__ km east of the Aral Sea.
A lot of space missions are launched from the
cosmodrome every year. Both Sputnik ? (the Earth's
first artificial satellite) and Vostok 1 (the first spacecraft
with a man on board) were launched from Gagarin's
Start at Baikonur.
The first Kazakh astronaut, Toktar Aubakirov, flew from
Gagarin's Start in 1991. He was a member of the 4
expedition to the Mir space station. Another Kazakh
astronaut, Talgat Musabayev, flew three missions – in
1994, 1998 and 5 _. In 2007, he became the head of
the Kazakh space agency KazCosmos.
Gagarin's Start, which is named after Yuri Gagarin, is
also the launch site for International Space Station
(ISS) missions. In 6 the astronaut Aidyn Aimbetov
was selected to fly on the Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft
to the ISS. This was the ? launch from Gagarin's
Start. The launch was in 2015, but Aimbetov's journey
to space began more than twelve years earlier. In
he was sent to study in Star City in Russia. This is where
astronauts are trained. The training isn't easy. 'Flying
into space is not like buying a theatre ticket,' Aimbetov
said. After
years of training, he returned to
Kazakhstan in 2009 to work for KazCosmos. He always
wanted to travel into space under the Kazakh flag, and
his dream finally came true on 10 September 2015. ​

i like new year's day, it is my favourite holiday. the 1st of january is a winter holiday and now it is the first day of the new year. peter the first changed the russian calendar in 1699. he made the 31st of december, 1699 the last day of the year. the first of january 1700 became new year's day.

the 1st of january is in the middle of winter. the weather is usually fine and there is a lot of snow everywhere. as the 1st of january is a holiday i don't go to school and my parents don't go to work.

our family prepares for this holiday beforehand. my father buys and brings home a beautiful new year's tree at the end of december. our family has a tradition to buy it. i like to decorate the new year's tree with toys, little coloured lights, sweets and a beautiful star on the top. my mother and grandmother prepare our holiday supper and lay the table. i make a cake. all the members of our family clean the flat before this nice holiday and then each of us try to dress well.

we like to see the new year in at home with our relatives. they come to see us at 11 o'clock in the evening. at 12 o'clock we are sitting at the table and we are glad to see the new year in. we say, "best wishes for the new year! ". i hope that next year will be better than the last one.

the new year's day is always connected with our new hopes and dreams. it is a pleasant moment to get presents on the new year's eve. i usually get many nice useful things from my parents and relatives. my parents put their presents under the new year's tree. we don't go to bed till morning, we watch tv, dance, eat tasty things and make jokes. i enjoy this holiday very much.

перевод:

я люблю новый год, это мой любимый праздник. 1 января-зимний праздник, и теперь это первый день нового года. петр первый изменил российский календарь в 1699 году. он сделал 31 декабря 1699 нпоследним днем года. первое января 1700 года стало первым днем нового года.

1 января -   середина зимы. погода, как правило, прекрасна и много снега везде. поскольку   1 января-это праздник, я не хожу в школу, а мои родители не идут на работу.

наша семья готовится к этому празднику заранее. мой отец покупает и приносит домой красивую новогоднюю елку в конце декабря. у нас в семье традиция покупать ее. я люблю украшать новогоднюю елку игрушками, , конфетами и красивой звездой на вершине. моя мама и бабушка готовят наш праздничный ужин и накрывают на стол. я делаю пирог. все члены нашей семьи убирать квартиру до этого прекрасного праздника, и каждый из нас старается красиво одеться.

нам нравится встречать новый год дома в кругу наших родственников. они приходят к нам в 11 часов вечера. в 12 часов мы сидим за столом, и мы рады встретить новый год. мы говорим : "наилучшие пожелания в новом году! ". я надеюсь, что следующий год будет лучше предыдущего.

день нового года всегда связан с нашими новыми и мечтами. это приятный момент, чтобы получить подарки на новый год. я обычно получаю много хороших полезных вещей от моих родителей и родственников. мои родители кладут свои подарки под новогоднюю елку. мы не ложимся спать до утра, мы смотрим телевизор, танцуем, кушаем вкусно и шутим. я люблю этот праздник -.