🚀 go-pugleaf

	As an advocate of putting people in space, as well as a strong
program of exploration by unmanned probes when that makes more sense, I
thought I'd try to inject some opinions from people who have actually
been there.  I got a GREAT book titled _The Home Planet_, edited by
Kevin Kelley, for Christmas, and it is full of wonderful stuff about
the history of man in space.  Lots of great pictures, and all of the
text is quotes from various people, of several different countries,
who have been in space on one mission or another.  (The original text
is included for non-English speaking astro/cosmonauts, which makes for
a nice visual effect).

	Anyway, somewhere in the middle of the book (they only numbered
the AWESOME pictures, not the pages), we find the following description
by two Soviets:

	"After the third major mission, _Salyut 7_ was mothballed, and
for five months it was maintained by radio control.  Then
communications ceased and _Salyut) went silent.

	Dzhanibekov and I were launched into space to find the _Salyut
7_, which had gonde "on strike."  After changing orbits, we searched
for the station from the spacecraft for two days.  At last, the
man-made star rose above the horizon and flashed in the rays of the sun.

	We floated into the station and turned on the lights, which
did not, of course, light up.  There was complete darkness, deadly
cold, and an ill-boding, oppressive, and truly cosmit silence."

Viktor Savinykh, USSR

	"We left the spacecraft and entered outer space, and hurtling
high above the Earth beside the vast and silent _Salyut 7_, we studiet
it attentively.

	The solar panels were strangely oriented, their photoelectric
cells peeling away in pieces, and looking for all the world like
storm-torn sails,  the once bright green shell had been burned and was
now covered in grayish-rust spots.  The portholes were all closed by
shutters on the inside.  No damage, however, could be seen on the hull
of the craft.  Well, what has happened to you, cosmic wanderer, we
asked, but we got no answer."

Vladimir Dzhanibekov, USSR

	"The station had fallen into trouble without people aboard and
met us now with an icy silence.  In absolute silence Viktor Savinykh
and I inspected the compartments.  The beam of the flashlight picked
out the various items of equipment, all in their correct places along
the sides.  The interior was in ideal condition.  The traditional
Russian welcoming gift of bread and salt had been left on the tiny
table by Leonid Kizim, Volodya Solovyov, and Oleg At'kov, together
with a letter asking those who came after them to look after this
house and wishing them success."

Vladimir Dzhanibekov, USSR

	"For seven long days, working both during the day-side parts
of the orbit and by flashlight, we tried to find out what was causing
the solar panels to fail.  We wanted to get at least one bulb to
light.  Finally, we found the culprits when we checked all the storage
batteries. 

	Two of them had gone out of comission.  We undid the thickly
plaited cabling and connected the solar panels directly so that they
always faced the sun.  The batteries began to recharge and finally
there was light.  

	Automation is indeed a wonderful thing, but in the end
humanity has the last word."

Viktor Savinykh, USSR

	Even if this doesn't convince you of anything, check out this
book!  It has great pictures of Earth from orbit, people on EVA, the
Apollo missions on the Moon, and tons of other great stuff.  The
commentary is also very good.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Marshall (marsh@mitre-bedford.arpa)

Disclaimer:  Often wrong but never in doubt...  All of these opinions
are mine, so don't gripe to my employer if you don't like them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------