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NASA names next Mir astronaut
October 10, 1997
Web posted at: 5:14 p.m. EDT (2114 GMT)From Correspondent John Holliman
MOSCOW (CNN) -- U.S. astronaut Andy Thomas, now training in Russia to be the next American on the Mir space station, has been formally approved for the mission, NASA officials said Friday.
The 45-year-old Australian-born Thomas would be the seventh and possibly last American to live aboard the trouble-plagued, 11-year-old orbiting outpost.
He will replace astronaut David Wolf, who began his four- month stint on Mir last week. "I've been waiting a long time for this," Thomas told CNN.
He's due to arrive on Mir next January, his second mission in space. Thomas went aboard the shuttle Endeavour in May 1996.
As part of his training at the Star City cosmonaut complex near Moscow, Thomas has spent most of this week climbing into and out of Russian space suits.
He's taking a crash course in everything Russian -- from the language, to operating Mir's TV and life-support systems, to conducting spacewalks. Thomas has been with the U.S. space program for four years, and his Russian trainers say he's learning fast.
In a quieter moment at his Star City apartment, Thomas said he's looking forward to the "extraordinary experience" of living on Mir.
Thomas speaks
196K/17 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
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Related stories:
- Supply ship successfully docks with Mir - October 8, 1997
- A day late, Mir casts off supply ship - October 7, 1997
- Supply ship fails to undock from Mir - October 6, 1997
- Leak in Mir may have been located - October 3, 1997
- Russians, Americans embrace in space - September 27, 1997
Related sites:
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- Andrew Thomas (NASA biography)
- NASA Shuttle-Mir Web- official NASA site for U.S. astronauts and their activities aboard the Russian Mir Space Station
- NASA Office of Inspector General
- ISS Phase I - Space Station Mir - contains graphics and specifications of the diferent areas of MIR
- Russian Space Agency - homepage of the Russian Space Agency through the NASA site
- Russian Space Research Institute (IKI)
- MIR Space Station - news, research, history, images and links from Maximov Online
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Additional Coverage:
- CNN In-Depth: Space
- Video Almanac: 1996 - Mir and Atlantis dock
- Video Almanac: 1986 - Soviets launch Mir
- Message Board: Repairing Mir
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