Penza, 10 June 2015. PenzaNews. Alexander Samokutyaev, Russian cosmonaut and the Hero of Russia, met the youth leaders of the Penza branch for the Russian Geographical Society on the square by the planetarium of the Belinsky central park on Wednesday, June 10.

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The Penza-born spacefarer spent over forty minutes answering the questions from the “Russian Geographical Society Pathfinders.” The school and university students of the organization took great interest in the reasons behind Alexander Samokutyaev’s choice of the difficult profession, his impression of Earth as seen from the ISS viewports, and gender equality in space.

During the event, a Penza songwriter and performer Denis Kotykov presented his new song dedicated to the Penza cosmonaut that he wrote in record time.

In his turn, Alexander Samokutyaev announced his decision to stay in Penza for Russia Day and City Day, the events both celebrated on Friday, June 12.

“For each Penza citizen, the status of a Honorary Citizen is a very important thing. It is my duty to be here if I am offered to participate in the celebration. There’s even more, I’ll tell you: yesterday, I received an offer from the [Russian] President to lead the celebrations [in the capital], but I declined, since Penza doesn’t have so many cosmonauts as there will be in Moscow,” he said.

After a member of the audience asked the spacefarer about the latter’s possible future in the politics, the Hero of Russia said he has no such plans.

“Guess I like people more than politics. Politics is a serious and interesting mission. I know a great lot of my colleagues and friends who sooner or later went into this area. Me, I am going to work on teaching young professionals at the Cosmonaut Training Center, become an instructor, and possibly go to space once again,” Alexander Samokutyaev explained.

The honored guest also added that he is currently undergoing the obligatory rehabilitation course that each cosmonaut and astronaut is required to complete after coming back to Earth.

“Following that, a medical board will take a lot of measurements and say whether I am good for space. That will happen in no less than six month, so a preliminary verdict on my spacefaring future will be announced sometime in September or October,” the Penza-born Hero of Russia clarified.

In conclusion of the meeting, Alexander Samokutyaev signed the flag of the expedition “Geography of the Victory” that the young activists plan to later donate to the Penza State Museum of Local Lore.

In return, the activists presented the cosmonaut letters of gratitude from the regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society and “Green Wave” movement, a book of poems “Following the Guiding Star” from the literary and patriotic club “Meridian 45,” and the RGS membership card for the honored guest.