
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 6, 1991                   TAG: 9104060043
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS                                LENGTH: Short

AMERICAN TEACHER TO JOIN COSMONAUTS

Getting an American teacher into space remains the goal of many, and one aerospace official said Thursday it would be reached with the help of the Soviet Union.

"We used to go into space because of competition, now it's because of cooperation," said Wayne Matson, president of Aerospace Ambassadors, a non-profit project of the Washington, D.C.-based Aviation Space Education Association.

An educator from the United States will become the first American to go aboard the Soviet space station, Mir, under an agreement signed March 15 with the Soviet Union, Matson said .

The educator will spend eight to 14 days in space with two Soviet cosmonauts during the projected 1993 launch. The cost will be subsidized by sponsors of the experiments.

The Soviet Union has shown a willingness to take paying customers aboard Mir, which means peace and was launched in 1986. A Japanese journalist already traveled aboard Mir, reportedly paying $12 million to $42 million. The agreement could mean the Soviets will put an American teacher in orbit before the United States does.

Ten finalists for the Soviet flight will be announced in July 1992 at the International Aviation and Space Education Convention in Huntsville, Ala. Two finalists will be selected to train in the Soviet Union, and one American will participate in the actual launch, officials said.

Idaho elementary school teacher Barbara Morgan will be NASA's choice as a shuttle passenger if it resumes its teacher-in-space program.

by CNB