Russians break record for stay in space

Press, 16 July 1979, Page 8

Russians break record for stay in space

NZPA-Reuter Moscow Two Soviet cosmonauts orbiting the Earth on board he Salyut 6 research station yesterday broke the 139-day ecord for man’s longest itay in space. Just after 2.42 p.m. New Zealand time yesterday, the nission commander, Vladimir Lyakhov, and an engineer, Valery Ryumin, who left the Earth on February 25, passed the old record set by their predecessors aboard Salyut last November. Moscow Radio, announcing the space endurance record in a domestic broadcast, said the two cosmonauts would celebrate by taking a day off from work. They would talk to their families and watch the space station’s television, the radio said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Lyakhov, who is 37, and Mr Ryumin, a 39-year-old civilian, are on the third and toughest marathon mission aboard the 19-tonne space station, which was launched in September. 1977, A rocket failure on a Soyuz ferry craft has prevented other cosmonauts from flying to Salyut to relieve the psychological pressures of isolation which are critical on prolonged missions.

Russian space doctors have reported in the official

press that Colonel Lyakhov and Mr Ryumin have stood up well physically and mentally to their 20 weeks in Salyut’s cramped quarters, though tempers have occasionally become frayed. Yesterday they passed the 1391 dhy record set by Alexander Ivanchenkov and Vladimir Kovalyonok last November.

Soviet space chiefs, whose ultimate goal is a permanently manned space station, do not reveal their plans, but Western experts expect the Salyut pair to remain on board for at least another couple of weeks. The crew is unloading the third Progress unmanned cargo craft which took supplies, fuel, scientific equipment, and spare parts to the station two weeks ago. The cosmonauts will eventually return to Earth aboard a Soyuz craft which docked with the Salyut last month after an unmanned flight from Earth. Soyuz 34 incorporates a new rocket designed after ground engineers worked out what went wrong with the Soyuz 33 motor last April. The foreign experts believe the present mission will be the last to Salyut, the sixth in a series of space stations developed by the Russians since the early 19705. The station, smaller and

less sophisticated than the United States Skylab which crashed back to Earth on Wednesday, was not intended to have such a long operational life.

Salyut has been manned for more than a year and is reported to be showing signs of wear.

The five earlier Salyut craft have been brought down to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere later, but East European sources said Salyut 6 might be boosted into a higher orbit away from the Earth.

They said that a seventh Salyut station was ready for launching. Unlike the Americans, who sent their last men to Skylab in 1974, the Russian s have continued to perfect their space stations but they are not believed to be developing a reusable shuttle like the United States.

Cosmonauts aboard Salyut divide their time between keeping fit with elaborate exercise equipment including a moving running track, and carrying out scientific observations and experiments.

Engineer Ryumin was this week reported to be the first cosmonaut ever to put on weight during a space flight. Scientists monitoring his health found he had put on 700 g (lib 9oz), a Tass news agency report said. >