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Cosmonauts Tone Up For Return To Earth
Moscow (AFP) June 13, 2000 - Russian cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kalery were exercizing furiously this week to prepare their bodies for reentry into the Earth's gravity Friday after a two-month space mission, mission control said Tuesday. It could be the last manned mission aboard the Mir space station unless funding is found to extend its life. The cosmonauts, in space since April 6, were exercizing "to prepare their muscles for the pressures of landing," and were tidying up the Mir space station, the mission control press center said. MirCorp, a private company with responsibility for Mir, has said it was optimistic it would gather the necessary funds for a two-month mission in November. The company recently signed an agreement with an Italian firm, Itali-Mir which agreed to provide 20 million dollars' funding in return for putting an Italian cosmonaut on board the space station. Russia, which is committed to building an International Space Station, has promised the United States, which is also involved in the project, that Mir will be entirely funded privately. If sufficient funds are not found, Russian authorities may be forced to destroy the space station in October.
A Heart Full Of Stars
Paris - June 13, 2000
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