Aug 14 1997
From The Space Library
Two Russian Space Agency cosmonauts, Vasili V. Tsibliyev and Alexander I. Lazutkin, returned to Earth after spending more than six months aboard the Mir space station. The New York Times echoed the feelings of many in the space community, calling the six months the Russians had spent in space, "six of the least glorious months in the history of manned space flight." During their departure from Mir, Tsibliyev and Lazutkin continued to experience the same type of problem that had characterized their tenure on board the space station. The two cosmonauts, scheduled to disengage from Mir in the Soyuz spacecraft and then to circle the space station, cancelled the exercise because of concern that the two spacecraft would collide. After the cosmonauts landed in the desert of Kazakhstan, Tsibliyev recounted to an international press corps the difficult mission that he and Lazutkin had endured aboard Mir, remarking that the two cosmonauts should not become the scapegoats for Russia's problems in space. The collision between the Progress cargo craft and Mir had occurred during the two men's tenure, and shortly thereafter, doctors had diagnosed Tsibliyev's irregular heartbeat. Space officials planned extensive debriefings for the two men. Meanwhile, President Boris N. Yeltsin congratulated the cosmonauts for their "persistence, courage, and heroism," in spite of his having claimed only days earlier that the recent problems with Mir were solely the result of human error.
Abe Silverstein received the Guggenheim Medal, honoring his significant contributions to the advancement of flight. Silverstein's 40-year career at NASA had included a period as the Director of Lewis Research Center. The citation praised him for his leadership in the Mercury and Gemini programs and for "advancing technology of aircraft and propulsion performance," as well as crediting him with proposing the name "Apollo" for the lunar landing mission. Previous winners of the Guggenheim Medal included Orville Wright, William E. Boeing, and Charles A. Lindbergh.
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