Jan 31 1998
From The Space Library
Just hours before Endeavour touched down in Florida, a new crew from Russia docked at Mir to begin a three-week transition from Mir 24 to Mir 25. Mir 25 Commander Talgat A. Musabayev replaced Anatoly Y. Solovyev, Flight Engineer Nikolai M. Budarin replaced Pavel V. Vinogradov, and Researcher Leopold Eyharts, a 40-year old French air force pilot on his first spaceflight, joined the crew.
The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Museum in Cape Canaveral, Florida, celebrated the 40th anniversary of the successful launch of the modified Redstone rocket, which had carried into orbit Explorer 1, the United States' first satellite. The launch occurred four months after the Soviet Union had placed Sputnik 1 in orbit. In addition to achieving orbit, the 31-pound (14-kilogram) Explorer 1 had discovered the Van Allen Radiation Belt. The museum at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station held an open house and a space fair and launched a model rocket to celebrate the anniversary of this milestone and to educate the public about the United States' 40 years in space.
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