Word: kovalenok
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...drifting down under a huge striped parachute, mission controllers jubilantly congratulating one another. But it was a Soviet, not a U.S., space triumph that was being celebrated last week-the homecoming of Cosmonauts "Volodya" and "Sasha." Smashing all space endurance records, the Soviet Union's latest heroes, Vladimir Kovalenok, 36, and Alexander Ivanchenkov, 38, had returned safely to earth after nearly 140 days in space...
Besides eclipsing the mark of 96 days set earlier this year by two other cosmonauts aboard the same Salyut 6 space station (the U.S. record is 84 days in orbit, set by a Skylab crew in 1974), Kovalenok, a Soviet air force colonel, and Ivanchenkov, his flight engineer, chalked up other feats. They played host to two visiting ships, one carrying an East German, the other a Polish cosmonaut. Resupplied three times by remote-controlled ferry craft, they conducted extensive observations of both the heavens and earth, and performed such experiments as growing crystals for electronic components and testing...
Though they were nearing the end of their second month in space, Kovalenok and Ivanchenkov appeared to be thriving aboard Salyut, understandably. The spacious ship includes such amenities as a new electronic control system that the Soviets say can take over navigation and control chores from the crew, a shower (Skylab has one too) and a small water-recycling plant. There is also an abundance of scientific equipment, for both observing the earth and performing tests in space. Last week, for instance, the cosmonauts began a new experiment with sprouting seeds to see how well they might grow in zero...
...other port is reserved for the Soyuz ferry craft that brought Kovalenok and Ivanchenkov to Salyut and will eventually return them to earth...
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