The ‘Home Planet’ Is Precious : Space Flight: When astronauts and cosmonauts gather, there is no rivalry, only agreement that we must save the fragile Earth.

In the dunes of the Al-Thuamalah desert, 50 kilometers from this capital of Saudi Arabia, a bus made in Japan, bearing American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts, got hopelessly stuck in axle-deep sand while trying to reach a Bedouin encampment for dinner under a full moon.

The space fliers, in the Saudi kingdom last month for their annual meeting of the Assn. of Space Explorers, proceeded in good humor to try pushing the trapped vehicle free with their combined muscle power.

Alas, failure.

Aleksei Leonov, the bald, jovial Soviet cosmonaut who was the first to walk in space at the end of a tether, shrugged in mock exasperation and said in rough-edged but passable English:

“Gentlemen, we have spent the afternoon in meetings discussing how to rescue each other in space in the event of an emergency. How do we expect to rescue each other in space if we cannot rescue each other from the sand?”

Roars of laughter, as the stranded veterans of space flight surrendered to the sand and walked the remaining distance to the camp.

There were other episodes such as that, when mirth and backslapping collegiality characterized the bond shared by the 19 American and 20 Soviet space fliers (as well as 11 mission specialists and a number of spouses) who came together here.

But there was more to this meeting of superpower space heroes that was uniquely illustrative of the changes now sweeping this world.

This was the first time that the rigorously anti-communist Saudi kingdom had allowed any such visits by Soviets since diplomatic relations were severed in 1930. The spectacle of Soviet and American space fliers dressed in long traditional Saudi thobes , sitting cross-legged on carpets in a Saudi Bedouin tent far into the desert and plunging both hands into an abundant Arab repast with their Saudi hosts, was the ultimate tribute to change.

And these men whose political leaders have for nearly four decades sought ways to create yet more nuclear destructive power unanimously adopted an appeal to the world imploring mankind to find ways of ending abuse to the fragile environment of what cosmonauts and astronauts lovingly call “The Home Planet.”

There was no East-West name-calling or finger-pointing, no talk of military arms or nuclear weapons. But anyone who mingled with these men during this historic and remarkable meeting could read into their private words and their public statements an unmistakable message: Those who’ve seen Mother Earth from space--the 220 men and women in this elite group--are horrified by abuses that have spread air and water pollution. They are disbelieving that man would fire nuclear missiles on this fragile planet.

Two of the participants had seen Earth at its smallest from the farthest distance--Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon in 1969 and Apollo 11 shipmate Mike Collins piloted the lunar-orbiting command module.

The statement noted that space pilots who have left the planet more than once have seen the gradual erosion of air and water quality--the appearance of ominous oil slicks and drifting air pollution that respect no national borders.

“Opportunities of space,” the communique read, “are meaningless if mankind ignores the opportunities for enriching life on Earth. (We have) seen from afar the dangers that can imperil our planet, and thus poison the quality of life that will be inherited by generations yet unborn.”

All of those who’ve seen Earth from afar return with an identical shared emotion--that mankind lives on a small, delicate planet whose livability is in peril.

Each of them has contributed some memorable quote to the history of manned flight into space. One that seems to capture the flavor of most came from Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, 33, who flew in 1985 on the U.S. shuttle Discovery, and was the conference host.

“The first day or so (in space), we all pointed to our countries,” Salman said. “The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.”

Were it possible, all future East-West summits or future negotiations between warring nations should be held in space, aboard a shuttle, where men who would threaten Earth’s survival with unthinkable acts of war and despoliation could see the precious planet that space fliers have seen.