On February 15, the GCTC was visited by the delegation of the Italian Embassy, headed by the Italian Ambassador in Russia Pasquale Terracciano.

The high Italian guests were accompanied by the management of the GCTC, headed by the head of the Center, Pavel Vlasov.

During the visit, the development of cooperation between the Italian Air Force and the Cosmonaut Training Center was discussed.

A guide on the technical area of the GCTC for the guests was the representative of the Italian Air Force Walter Villadei, who is currently undergoing training in the GCTC.

For several years he has been training under the Russian cosmonaut training program and therefore is familiar with the Center’s simulators firsthand.

During the excursion, Pasquale Terracciano and the embassy staff visited the halls of “Soyuz” spacecraft, Russian segment of the ISS, Space Center, “Exit-2” simulators and the “CF-18” centrifuge.

They had a unique opportunity to experience the difficulties of training in the preparation for space flight.

Pasquale Terracciano also talked with the Italian astronaut of the European Space Agency (ESA) Luca Parmitano, who is currently undergoing training in the backup crew of “Soyuz MS-12”, which is scheduled to launch in March 2019.