THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160303
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. LENGTH: 42 lines
In what sounded like a frat house after a big football victory, two NASA astronauts traded places in orbit Wednesday in a raucous linkup between shuttle Atlantis and the Russian space station Mir.
John Blaha, a 1960 Granby High School graduate, moved into the shuttle for the ride home after more than four months on Mir, while Jerry Linenger settled in aboard the orbiting Russian outpost for a similarly long adventure.
The arrival of the six Atlantis astronauts, including Norfolk native Peter ``Jeff'' Wisoff, was punctuated by ear-splitting cheers and laughter 240 miles above Earth.
The two cosmonauts aboard Mir offered bread and salt, a traditional Russian welcome. The Americans gave them a bag of oranges as well as can openers - what the Russians had requested.
``We've been busy all day. I'm starving,'' shuttle pilot Brent Jett said.
After a smooth docking Tuesday night, a dead battery in a handheld mike delayed the opening of the shuttle hatch. Blaha, who had not seen Americans face-to-face since Atlantis dropped him off in September, beckoned impatiently for the shuttle astronauts to come in.
Blaha offered a round of drinks - in foil pouches with straws - and described his thrill at seeing the approaching shuttle.
``It was a shining star. It got bigger and bigger,'' said Blaha, 54, a former combat and test pilot. ``Then, of course, the sun came up and bam! You saw the shuttle and it was quite a beautiful sight.''
The United States and Russia are the chief partners in the international space station, to be built beginning late this year. The shuttle-Mir program is intended as a warm-up.
Atlantis and Mir will remain docked for five days so nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies can be moved back and forth. The shuttle will undock Sunday and return to Earth on Wednesday with Blaha.
Linenger, a doctor who turns 42 on Thursday, is due back in late May on Atlantis' next trip.
KEYWORDS: JOHN BLAHA