2 Space Pals Touring U.S.

The last time the Cold War needed thawing a bit, there they were, their Apollo and Soyuz spacecraft locked together 140 miles up in space. The American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts were shaking hands and smiling into the space-capsule cameras.

And Tuesday, with the Cold War thawing so fast it’s forming lakes of good will, there they were again, smiling at the camera over drinks in Corona del Mar.

Thomas P. Stafford, who had commanded the Apollo crew during that historic 1975 flight, and Valery N. Kubasov, one of the two cosmonauts who had reached through the spacecraft tunnel to shake Stafford’s hand, were on a hectic 10-day tour that had paused for a while at the home of Ed Brower, president of Pacific Scientific Co., an Anaheim-based aerospace firm. Stafford is a director of Pacific Scientific.

Stafford was explaining how the tour came about while Kubasov, who speaks passable English, was asking the maid to identify the hors d’oeuvres.

(“Taquitos,” she said. “Tequila?” Kubasov asked. He tried them anyway.)

Stafford said the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce wanted to arrange a reunion of the American and Soviet astronauts as part of last week’s Aerospace America ’88 air show. And while not all of the original astronauts attended, Stafford and Kubasov did. Stafford, a native of Weatherford, Okla., helped to unveil statues of himself there and in Oklahoma City.

Stafford said he urged Kubasov to accompany him to California, where he was scheduled to attend a Pacific Scientific board meeting.

California is hardly new to Kubasov. As vice president of the Soviets’ USSR-USA Society, he has made 10 trips to the United States and toured widely.

How many American cities has he visited?

Kubasov tried to remember them all: “New York, Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans, Lake Tahoe and Lander.”

Lander?

“Wyoming,” Stafford explained. “He was shooting antelope.”

Kubasov has even been to Newport Beach before, when he attended a barbecue and was introduced to John Wayne.

How has his latest tour gone?

Kubasov did not quite understand the question. When Stafford translated it into Russian, Kubasov grinned.

“During (Apollo-Soyuz) flight, we use three languages--Russian, English and special Oklahoma language,” Kubasov said.

Stafford broke into an I’m-just-a-country-boy grin. “With my drawl, learning Russian was a bear,” he said.

“I understand him when he speaks Russian,” Kubasov said, “but Oklahoma language is very difficult.”

Some of it apparently rubbed off, however. Asked whether he was still active as an astronaut, Kubasov replied, “Not t’all.”

Kubasov is scheduled to visit Disneyland today, then head to San Diego, which friends have told him “is most beautiful American city,” he said. He is due to return to Moscow on Friday.