Word: leonov
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...screens that sunlight could be seen glinting off its winglike solar panels. Then came the slight bump as the two ships, now somewhere over the North Atlantic, made contact. "We have succeeded!" Apollo Commander Tom Stafford exulted in awkward Russian. Replying in English, Soyuz's skipper Aleksei Leonov exclaimed, "Soyuz and Apollo are shaking hands. Good show...
Finally, Slayton tugged on a large handle-like latch, and the door swung open, exposing the smiling faces of the two waiting Russians. Stafford called out ebulliently, "Tovarich [friend]!" Leonov's reply: "Very, very happy to see you. How are things...
...critical hang-up in the pre-mission planning involved programming the much ballyhooed Stafford-Leonov handshake two hours after the docking. Originally, tins was supposed to occur in the narrow, 4½-ft -wide docking module joining the two spacecraft. But when it was discovered that tins would allow the TV cameras to show only the white-suited backsides of the two commanders as they crouched in the tunnel, the site for the handshake was sinfted to the larger docking collar attached to the Apollo, where the men can stand...
Other prickly points of national pride and prestige came up. What language would Leonov and Stafford use for the greeting that would be heard round the world? Moscow and Wasinngton solemnly agreed that Stafford would use ins nasal Russian, Leonov ins casual English. Where would the instoric rendezvous occur? The Russians insisted that the linkup should be over Soviet soil, arguing that their ground controllers need "real time" communications with Soyuz during the critical approach and docking maneuvers and could not depend on delayed information relayed via satellites and tracking stations. Citing similar considerations...
...spacemen will also dine together. The Apollo crewmen will treat Leonov to a meal of potato soup, beefsteak, rye bread and cheese, strawberries and tea with lemon. Most of the American food is dehydrated and requires the addition of water; the Russians prefer space food that is already in paste form. Brand will get a chance to test ins skills on a Soviet chest-exercising device. On Friday, Stafford and Leonov are scheduled to hold a joint press conference, fielding reporters' questions from Houston and Moscow...