Astronaut Taking Her Teddy Bear Into Space
French astronaut Claudie Haignere will lift off for the International Space Station today accompanied by two cosmonauts and her own mascot--a teddy bear.
Haignere, a 44-year-old engineer, will become the first French citizen to visit the ISS. She told reporters at the Baikonur cosmodrome on the Kazakh steppes that she plans to add a personal touch to her eight-day stay, expected to be heavy on scientific research.
“I am taking with me books and photos, which I will present to my friends after the mission,” she said in fluent Russian. “I will certainly take a photo of my daughter and my personal talisman, a teddy bear.”
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