WORLD : Cosmonauts to Reman Space Base
Two cosmonauts will blast off Sept. 6 to reman the orbiting space station Mir after a four-month lapse dictated by finances and technical delays, space officials announced today.
The new six-month mission by flight commander Alexander S. Viktorenko and engineer Alexander A. Serebrov will include a ride outside Mir in a new “space motorcycle.”
Serebrov, a veteran of two earlier spaceflights, and Viktorenko, who flew once before, are to blast off the night of Sept. 6 aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur space center in the republic of Kazakhstan, officials said.
Mir, the showcase of the Soviet space program, was launched in February, 1986. Although designed to be permanently manned, it was vacated April 27 when three cosmonauts rocketed back to Earth.
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