America’s First Cosmonauts: Reflections on the Human Cost of Shuttle-Mir

ABSTRACT

Shuttle-Mir, the joint space exploration effort between NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), faced a wide variety of challenges throughout its five-year run between 1993 and 1998. These included institutional differences, high costs to both the American and Russian governments, and poor public reception. The focus herein is on the personal reflections and experiences of American men and women who participated directly in the program: the seven Shuttle-Mir astronauts from the United States. These men and women joined an unprecedented exchange in which they had to train for and serve aboard a foreign space station for extended periods of time. This article utilizes archival records, official oral histories, and personal memoirs to outline three specific challenges faced in common by all of the U.S. astronauts. Primarily, they had to master both the everyday and technical intricacies of the Russian language, live in Russia during the post-Soviet economic collapse, and adapt to new institutional procedures and training methods under Roscosmos. Combined, these experiences presented serious difficulties in working with their Russian counterparts aboard the space station Mir, and made crisis situations even more hazardous. Overall, these experiences introduced yet another cost to the Shuttle-Mir program—a human one.

Notes

¹ Robert Zimmerman, Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel (Washington, DC: Joseph Henry Press, 2003), 21–25.

² Russia and Spaceflight, “Shuttle-Mir History, NASA History Office,” http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/history/h-t-short.htm (accessed April 2016). This web source serves as a companion to the Clay Morgan book cited later, and includes additional comments, interviews, and video sources from NASA.

³ Associated Press, “Space Station Defeated in Key Committee Vote,” New York Times, 4 June 1991.Vice President Dan Quayle to Adm. Richard Truly, 19 March 1991, Folder 3.6 [in archival processing], Mark Craig Papers, The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives at Purdue University Libraries.

⁴ Marsha Freeman, Challenges of Human Space Exploration (Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing, 2000), 33–35.

⁵ Giles Alston, “Diplomacy in Orbit,” The World Today 53, no. 5 (1997): 116–118; George Swietek, “Options for SSF/Mir Programmatic Combinations, 8 June 1992, Folder 1.7, Mark Craig Papers.

⁶ Mark Craig, “SSF Core Problems,” 1992, Folder 3.6, Mark Craig Papers. Karl A. Leib, “Entering the Space Station Era,” in Space Policy in the Twenty-First Century, edited by W. Henry Lambright (Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins University Press, 2003), 115–146.

⁷ Honorable Christopher Cox, Chairman, et al., Members of the Speaker’s Advisory Group on Russia, “Executive Summary,” Russia’s Road to Corruption (Washington, DC: U.S. House of Representatives, 2000); U.S.-Russian Cooperation in Human Spaceflight: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, United States Congress, 105th Congress (18 September 1997), statement of Zoe Lofgren, California.

⁸ Clay Morgan, Shuttle-Mir: The United States and Russia Share History’s Highest Stage (Houston, TX: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 2001), 5. For two significant justifications for the partnership, see Buzz Aldrin, “Catch a Lift on Energia,” Ad Astra 4, no. 6 (1992): 5; and George Brown, “Changing Rationales: Foreign Policy and the Space Station,” Harvard International Review 16, no. 3 (1994): 34–35, 70–71.

⁹ Pyotr Klimuk, letter to Carolyn Huntoon, 6 October 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers, The Virginia Kelley Karnes Archives at Purdue University Libraries. Klimuk was Chief of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, and Huntoon was Director of the Johnson Space Center from 1994 to 996. Jerry Linenger, Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months aboard the Space Station Mir (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2000), 44.

¹⁰ James Oberg, Star-Crossed Orbits: Inside the U.S.-Russian Space Alliance (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2002), 89–95.

¹¹ U.S.-Russian Cooperation in Human Spaceflight: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, United States Congress, 105th Congress (18 September 1997), statement of F. James Sensenbrenner, Chair, Committee on Science, Wisconsin.

¹² Bryan Burrough, Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir (New York, NY: Harper Collins, 1998), 490–496.

¹³ Warren Leary, “NASA Says Mir is Safe but Congress has Reservations,” New York Times, 19 September 1997; Burrough (note 12): 487.

¹⁴ Dick Thompson, “Rendezvous for old Rivals,” Time Magazine, 27 March 1995, 66.

¹⁵ Edward Ezell and Linda Ezell, The Partnership: A NASA History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2010), 255–256.

¹⁶ Kim Dismukes, “Shuttle-Mir History,” NASA History Office, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/ (accessed April 2016). Ben Evans, Partnership in Space: The Mid to Late Nineties (New York, NY: Springer-Praxis, 2014).

¹⁷ Norman E. Thagard, interview (16 September 1998) by Rebecca Wright, Paul Rollins, and Carol Butler, “Shuttle-Mir Oral History Project,” NASA History Office, http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/oral-histories/thagard.pdf (accessed April 2016).

¹⁸ John Blaha, interview (24 August 1998) by Rebecca Wright, Paul Rollins, and Andrea Hollman, “Shuttle-Mir Oral History Project,” NASA History Office, http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/oral-histories/blaha.pdf (accessed April 2016). Carey Goldberg, “America from Abroad: Two U.S. Astronauts Learning to Say ‘Beam Me Up’ in Russian,” Los Angeles Times, 12 July 1994, 3.

¹⁹ Letter from Donald Puddy to Art Gebbia, 15 December 1993, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

²⁰ Contact with DLI at DC, 17 September 1993, and Russian Language Training, 16 September 1993, both in Box 36, Folder 5, David Leestma Papers. Megan Ansdell, “Language Protocols in International Human Spaceflight: Time for a Common Tongue?” Space Policy 28 (2012): 2–6.

²¹ Linenger (note 9): 25–26.

²² Thagard (note 17); C. Michael Foale, interview (16 June 1998) by Rebecca Wright, Carol Butler, and Mark Davison, “Shuttle-Mir Oral History Project,” NASA History Office, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/people/oral-histories/foale.pdf (accessed April 2016).

²³ Linenger (note 9): 27.

²⁴ “Work Request for Interpretation and Translation Support,” 23 February 1994, Filename [TeamOfeb94], Mark Geyer Papers, The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives at Purdue University Libraries.

²⁵ Letter from Donald R. Puddy to David Leestma, 4 November 1993, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

²⁶ Evans (note 16): 383.

²⁷ Thagard (note 17); Interview with Norm Thagard, in Jim Ash, “Rocket Man,” Research in Review, Florida State University (fall and winter 1997), http://rinr.fsu.edu/fallwinter97/features/rocketman.html (accessed May 2016).

²⁸ David Wolf, interview (23 June 1998) by Rebecca Wright, Paul Rollins, and Mark Davison, “Shuttle-Mir Oral History Project,” NASA History Office, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/people/oral-histories/wolf.pdf (accessed April 2016). Also see Peter Bond, The Continuing Story of the International Space Station (New York, NY: Praxis Publishing, 2002), 67.

²⁹ Shannon Lucid, interview (17 June 1998) by Mark Davison, Rebecca Wright, and Paul Rollins, “Shuttle-Mir History Project,” NASA History Office, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/people/oral-histories/lucid.pdf (accessed April 2016). Ker Than, “Shuttle Astronaut’s Four Most Extraordinary Moments,” National Geographic News, 6 July 2011, http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/07/110706-shuttle-launch-astronaut-moments-space-atlantis-science/ (accessed May 2016).

³⁰ Blaha (note 18).

³¹ Shannon Lucid, “Six Months on Mir,” Scientific American 278, no. 5 (May 1998): 46–55.

³² Ibid.

³³ Oberg (note 10): 215–229.

³⁴ Protocol: Joint Program Review, RSA-NASA, 16–17 November 1995, Filename JPRNov16-17_95, Mark Geyer Papers.

³⁵ C-Span, “Shuttle-Mir Joint Operation,” archived video, 54:52, 11 June 1998, http://www.c-span.org/video/?107156-1/shuttlemir-joint-operation (accessed April 2016).

³⁶ Adam Stulberg, Russia: Facing the Future (New York, NY: Carnegie Corporation, 2001), 12–15. For context, see Steven Solnick, Stealing the State: Control and Collapse in Soviet Institutions (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998).

³⁷ Linenger (note 9): 29–31; and William Burrows, This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age (New York, NY: Random House, 1998), 584.

³⁸ Quoted from Victor Mizin, “New Russia in Space: More than a ‘Celestial Travel Agency’?” Astropolitics 1, no. 3 (2003): 80–94. Also see ANSER’s Russian Activities, Moscow Office Report #64, 14 January 1994, and Travis Brice to David Leestma, 16 May 1994, both in Box 36, Folder 4, David Leestma Papers.

³⁹ Mark Geyer, “Comments Regarding the Shuttle-Mir Program,” Purdue University Libraries Distinguished Lecture Guest, at the lunch-discussion on 10 November 2015.

⁴⁰ Pyotr Klimuk, letter to Carolyn Huntoon, 6 October 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁴¹ Linenger (note 9): 44.

⁴² Bond (note 28): 67–70; Peter Maass, “Messages from Mir: How the Mistakes Made on the Russian Space Station Bring Us Closer to Mars,” The New Yorker (20 October 1997): 244.

⁴³ Letter from Daniel Goldin, NASA Administrator to Yuri Koptev, General Director of Roscosmos, 13 January 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁴⁴ Letter from Travis Brice to David Leestma, 1 March 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁴⁵ Linenger (note 9): 33.

⁴⁶ Email from Bonnie Dunbar to David Leestma, 21 June 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁴⁷ Email from Travis Brice to David Leestma, 3 March 1994, Box 36, Folder 4, David Leestma Papers. Brice was responsible for translation and interpretation of Russian documents and agreements.

⁴⁸ Burrough (note 12): 281.

⁴⁹ Email from Bonnie Dunbar to Charlie Bolden, 8 May 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁵⁰ Canadian Astronaut Program document, Q&A with ESA regarding Russian accommodations for astronauts during stay in Star City, Forwarded to Travis Bryce from David Williams, CAP, 6 October 1993, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁵¹ Burrough (note 12): 281.

⁵² Memo for Record: Telecon (teleconference) with Renita Anderson—HQ Recorded by Travis Brice, 15 December 1993, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁵³ Burrough (note 12): 282.

⁵⁴ Email from Gary Johnson to David Leestma, 19 October 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁵⁵ Thagard (note 17).

⁵⁶ Email from Bonnie Dunbar to Charlie Bolden, 8 May 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁵⁷ Blaha (note 18).

⁵⁸ Jennifer Ross-Nazzal and Rebecca Wright, “An Interview with Shuttle Astronaut John E. Blaha,” Quest 18, no. 3 (2011): 8–9.

⁵⁹ Morgan (note 8): 39.

⁶⁰ RSA/NASA Issue Form, 30 October 1995, Filename TIM16, Mark Geyer Papers. Jeffrey Manber, “Russian-American Space Miscommunication: A Study in Missed Opportunities,” Space Policy 16 (2000): 3–6.

⁶¹ Letter from Donald Puddy to David Leestma, 4 November 1993, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers. Puddy served as one of the chief negotiators with Roscosmos and Energia during Phase I.

⁶² Letter from Donald Puddy to Bill Valentine, 12 January 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁶³ Lucid (note 29); Bert Vis, “Bonnie Dunbar on Training in the Shuttle-Mir Programme,” Spaceflight 40, no. 5 (1998): 161–163.

⁶⁴ Morgan (note 8): 39.

⁶⁵ Aleksandr Aleksandrov, interview (25 March 1998) by Mark Davison, Paul Rollins, and Rebecca Wright, “Shuttle-Mir Oral History Project,” NASA History Office, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/people/oral-histories/aleksand.pdf (accessed April 2016).

⁶⁶ Oberg (note 10): 20; Rex Hall, David Shayler, and Bert Vis, Russia’s Cosmonauts: Inside the Yuri Gagarin Training Center (New York, NY: Praxis Publishing, 2005), 285.

⁶⁷ Burrough (note 12): 106.

⁶⁸ Colin Foale, Waystation to the Stars: The Story of Mir, Michael and Me (London, England: Headline, 1999), 53.

⁶⁹ Wolf (note 28).

⁷⁰ Gary Kitmacher, NASA-Mir: Development, Integration, and Operation of Systems of the Priroda Module of the Mir Orbital Station (Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2002), 6. Morgan (note 8): 470.

⁷¹ Linenger (note 9): 91; Lucid (note 29).

⁷² Peter Suedfeld, Kasia Wilk, and Lindi Cassel, “Flying with Strangers: Postmission Reflections of Multinational Space Crews,” in Psychology of Space Exploration, edited by Douglas Vakoch (Washington, DC: NASA History Program Office, 2011), 149–152.

⁷³ “A Stitch in Space,” BBC News, 26 January 1998, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/50515.stm (accessed May 2016).

⁷⁴ Nick Kanas and Jennifer Ritsher, “Leadership Issues with Multicultural Crews on the International Space Station: Lessons Learned from Shuttle/Mir,” Acta Astronautica 56 (2005): 932–936.

⁷⁵ Thagard (note 17); Florida Today, “Astronaut Says He Didn’t Slam Russian Food,” The Seattle Times, 23 July 1995, http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950723&slug=2132769 (accessed May 2016). Also see James A. Dator, Social Foundations of Human Space Exploration (New York, NY: Springer, 2012), 50–51; and Zach Hester, “NASA’s Lessons Learned in Long-Duration Spaceflight: The Shuttle-Mir Program,” Quest 23, no. 1 (2016): 15–21.

⁷⁶ Wolf (note 28). Also see Burrough (note 12): 487; and David Harland, The Mir Space Station: A Precursor to Space Colonization (Chichester, UK: Praxis Publishing, 1997), 343.

⁷⁷ Greg Klerkx, Lost in Space: The Fall of NASA and the Dream of a New Space Age (New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2004), 37; and Jim Banke, “Moscow, We Have a Problem,” Ad Astra 9, no. 5 (1997): 32–35.

⁷⁸ Evans (note 16): 394.

⁷⁹ Nick Kanas, “Interpersonal Issues,” Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine 76, no. 6 (2005): 39–51.

⁸⁰ Morgan (note 9): 160.

⁸¹ Lucid (note 29); Foale (note 22); “Mir Supply Ship Overload Suspected,” New York Times, 1 July 1997.

⁸² Thagard (note 17).

⁸³ Email from Bonnie Dunbar to David Leestma, 21 June 1994, Box 16, Folder “Russian Mir,” David Leestma Papers.

⁸⁴ Eugene Kranz and David Leestma to VA/Assistant Deputy Administrator-Technical, 27 August 1993, Box 36, Folder 4, David Leestma Papers. During Shuttle-Mir, Kranz served as Director of NASA Mission Operations.

⁸⁵ Linenger (note 9): 106; Lucid (note 29).

⁸⁶ Interview of Norman Thagard and David Wolf by Ira Flatow, “Analysis: History and Impending Doom of the Mir Space Station,” Talk of the Nation (16 March 2001), National Public Radio, Biography in Context, accessed 24 April 2016; “Shannon Lucid (cover story),” People Magazine, 30 December 1996, 88.

⁸⁷ Amanda Siegfried, “Purdue Students to Try Again to Talk with Shuttle Crew,” 26 October 1993; Beth Forbes, radio script, 28 October 1993, both in the John Blaha Vertical File, The Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives at Purdue University Libraries.

⁸⁸ Foale (note 22).

⁸⁹ Thagard (note 18); Andrew Thomas, interview (22 July 1998) by Rebecca Wright, and Carol Butler, and Summer Bergen, “Shuttle-Mir Oral History Project,” http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/people/oral-histories/thomas.pdf (accessed April 2016).

⁹⁰ Lucid (note 29).

⁹¹ Burrough, Dragonfly, 113. Marcia Dunn, “Blaha got the Blahs on His 4-Month Visit to the Russian Space Station,” Los Angeles Times, 30 March 1997.

⁹² Foale (note 22).

⁹³ Burrough (note 12): 509.

⁹⁴ Nick Kanas, Humans in Space (New York, NY: Springer-Praxis, 2015), 57.

⁹⁵ Susan Eisenhower, Partners in Space: US-Russian Cooperation after the Cold War (Washington, DC: The Eisenhower Institute, 2005), 58–63.

⁹⁶ “The International Space Station: Benefits from the Shuttle-Mir Program,” NASA Facts, August 1998, http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/references/documents/benefits.pdf (accessed April 2016). David Harland and John Catchpole, Creating the International Space Station (New York, NY: Praxis Publishing, 2002), 185–186.

⁹⁷ Maass (note 42): 247.

⁹⁸ John Bacon and Melanie Saunders, “Shuttle Builds the International Space Station,” in Wings in Orbit: Scientific and Engineering Legacies of the Space Shuttle, edited by Wayne Hale (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2010), 144.

⁹⁹ Geyer (note 39). Guy Gardner, program director of Shuttle-Mir in Moscow, shared Geyer’s sentiments: “the biggest humanitarian benefit from this project was the cooperation between the two countries.” Kristen Sutherland, “Alumnus Brings Experience from Space Back to Purdue,” Purdue Exponent (10 February 2004).

¹⁰⁰ Thompson (note 14). Also see Associated Press, “Shuttle Commander Spoke from the Heart,” 22 August 1991, in the John Blaha Vertical File; and Steven Marcus, “Woe is Mir,” IEEE Spectrum 35, no. 6 (1998): 41–43.