Cosmonaut Dropped From Mission

A senior Russian cosmonaut was dropped from the first U.S.-Russian crew bound for NASA’s planned international space station as a struggle over which nation will command the orbiting outpost neared its end, U.S. space agency officials said.

Space flight veteran Anatoly Solovyev was a member of the first crew assigned to the planned space station, along with U.S. astronaut William Shepherd. But earlier this month, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was told Solovyev would not fly and cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko would take his place.

Solovyev’s sudden departure came as NASA and the Russian space agency neared the conclusion of delicate negotiations on who will command the jointly owned and operated station.

With both countries’ national pride and political support at stake, each had insisted that their astronaut be leader.