Oct 2 1984
From The Space Library
Cosmonauts Leonid Kizim, Vladimir Solovyev, and Oleg Atkov returned safely to Earth after 237 days in space. Soviet television broadcast the return, showing a parachute bearing the crew coming down about 500 miles northeast of Tashkent in Kazakhstan at 1:57 p.m. Moscow time. The three crew members had lived on the Salyut 7 orbiting space station since February 9. In television interviews, the cosmonauts said that they were glad to be back with friends on the "warm earth," although one commented he was sad to leave the empty space station behind.
The Soviet media had indicated recently that the crew was growing weary and to save energy had their working day cut by one hour. However, a medical checkup given the day after their return found the three to be in good health. In an interview in the newspaper Socialist Industry, a medical specialist said that recent endurance flights showed humans could live in space a year or more.
The cosmonauts spent their last days on board transferring material to their Soyuz T11 spacecraft and mothballing scientific equipment on the Salyut. The space station, launched in April 1982, would continue in orbit.
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet awarded medals to the three cosmonauts; and Kizim, who headed a crew that linked up with an earlier space station in 1980, would be honored with a bronze bust, the Washington Post reported that Tass said. (W Post, Oct 3/84, A-23; FBIS, Moscow Tass in English, Oct 1/84, Oct 2/84; FBIS Moscow Dom Svc in Russian, Oct 3/84)
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