Moscow, 22 December: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has expressed regret that the history of space exploration has become the object of various kinds of falsification.

"Some facts are deliberately distorted, certain others are hushed up," Putin said opening a session of the organizing committee for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first manned spaceflight in 2011.

"Even in Russian shops one can buy books and educational computer programmes which have no word about the first satellite or Gagarin's launch," he said.

"Instead one can find everything, find out particulars and details, about Mr (Wernher) von Braun, who created the V-2 (rocket), and about the flight to the moon," he said.

"The 50th anniversary of Gagarin's flight is an opportunity once again to demonstratively remind the world public of Russia's key role in space exploration, about the significance of domestic research programmes for the whole of humankind," Putin said.

"For this I consider it necessary to mobilize Russian information resources as much as possible - printed publications, the Internet and television. And of course, one should carefully analyze the quality of the textbooks used in our schools," he said.

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