Do you speak Russian?

Astronauts during their space missions speak either in English and/ or in Russian. The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters divided into 11 vowels, 20 consonants and 2 letters, which do not designate any sounds. Each letter can be either written in capitals or in small letters. The letters can also be printed or handwritten.

In this picture (to the left), we can see ESA Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque with American astronaut Ed Lu, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri. Pedro can speak Russian and English (and of course Spanish too!).

And you, how good is your Russian? With the help of the Russian alphabet, answer the following questions:

1. The Russian dog Laika was the first living creature to go in to space in 1957. Write its name in Russian.
2. The Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin was the first man to go in to space. In 1961, he made a space trip lasting 108 minutes. Write his last name in Russian.
3. The Russian word for "astronaut" is "kosmonawt". Write it using Russian letters.
4. The Russian word for "space" is "kosmos". Write it using Russian letters.
5. Read the word on the picture (to the left) using a Russian pronunciation.
6. Write the word "rocket" using Russian letters.
7. Write your first name using Russian letters.