Oleg Kononenko will accompany the board of Roscosmos as part of the Astro Night flight from the Frontiers of Science Guild.

The Frontiers of Science Guild , with the support of Roscosmos, is organizing a four-hour non-stop flight to observe the lunar eclipse from an altitude of about 10,000 meters. The planes will take off from Moscow, fly to the Northern Urals, turn around over the Arctic Circle and return to the capital. The meeting of the participants will be held at the Air Business Terminal Vnukovo-3 will host a buffet, and on board they will find an astronomical DJ SET and a gastro dinner from the PESHI restaurant, listed in the prestigious Michelin Red Guide. An astronomer accompanying each flight will tell you about the total lunar eclipse and why the Moon turns red.

The flight route was calculated by "eclipse chaser" Stanislav Korotky, scientific director of the Ka-Dar Observatory and the Astroverts astrofarm, who in 2015 organized a flight to view the solar eclipse over the Norwegian Sea. Stanislav Korotky will accompany the first flight together with the cosmonaut and Vladimir Surdin, astronomer and popularizer of science. Tickets for this flight The Boeing 737 was purchased by space and astronomy enthusiasts in less than a week.

The organizers announced the booking of seats on a special flight of the Roscosmos Cosmonaut Training Center. The TU-204 is equipped with 51 business and premium level seats – cosmonauts and astronauts fly on this aircraft. In addition, it is planned to hold the world's first space concert during the lunar eclipse on board , conducted by composer and musician Andrei Klimkovsky.

The TU-204 flight of the Roscosmos Cosmonaut Training Center. Photo: Roscosmos.

The lunar eclipse will last 3 hours, so each flight will observe it for about an hour and a half.:

• 19:26 – the beginning of the private phase,
• 20:30 – start of the full phase,
• 21:11 – maximum of the eclipse,
• 21:53 - the end of the full phase,

• 22:57 – the end of the private phase.

The flight route was calculated by "eclipse chaser" Stanislav Korotky, scientific director of the Ka-Dar Observatory and the Astroverts astrofarm, who in 2015 organized a flight to view the solar eclipse over the Norwegian Sea. Stanislav Korotky will accompany the first flight together with the cosmonaut and Vladimir Surdin, astronomer and popularizer of science. The tickets for this flight were purchased by space and astronomy enthusiasts in less than a week.

Solar eclipse in 2015, view from an airplane. Photo: Stanislav Korotky.

Total lunar eclipse. Photo: Stanislav Korotky.

Oleg Kononenko, commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut squad, and a Hero, will accompany the second flight. Hero of the Russian Federation, Hero of Turkmenistan. The participants of the flight will have the chance to spend four hours in the air in the company of a man who spent a record 1,111 days in orbit and performed seven spacewalks with a total duration of 44 hours and 30 minutes. The legendary cosmonaut will be able to talk about how the Earth and various phenomena are observed from the International Space Station. Oleg Kononenko made a lot of shots – from the origin thunderstorms over the planet and the moon setting over the horizon, before irrigation projects and the kind of illumination of various cities at night, and in 2019 he managed to take a picture of a total lunar eclipse.

During my stay on the International Space Station, I took a huge number of pictures. It 's an amazing angle, but you can also see the beauty of the lunar eclipse from the Ground. I am glad to take part in a unique flight, during which I will be able to tell you how astronauts observe various phenomena from the ISS. I wonder what's on board the ISS I have observed eclipses several times, and the experience of observing from an airplane will be the first for me, and I am glad to share it with the participants of Astro Night. Oleg Kononenko.

Total lunar eclipse, view from the ISS. Photo: Oleg Kononenko / Roscosmos. A source

Photo: Oleg Kononenko / Roscosmos. A source

It is planned that up to eight aircraft will go on the Astro Night flight, including two TU-204 Cosmonaut Training Centers of Roscosmos, the only aircraft in Russia with 72 business class seats, Boeing 757-200 Lujo Black Jet, Embraer Lineage 1000E for 13 passengers and a Sukhoi Superjet 100 for 19 passengers. The Astro organizing team Night is negotiating with large commercial companies — organizations have the opportunity to fully book a ship for their guests and employees.