on Space Station Mir is not exactly getting rave reviews from many among the elite Russian cosmonaut corps.
In fact, two of the country’s most influential space flyers give the proposed project – which has been tentatively approved by the Russian government -- a resounding thumbs down.
"We do not support this flight," said veteran cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov, who served as commander on Mir during its first hook-up with an American space shuttle in 1995.
"It could be justified only if somebody pays good money to the Russian space program for Steklov’s ride," Dezhurov said. "If not, then it’s just a waste of scarce resources from the program. And in that case, it would make much more sense to send a young cosmonaut to Mir to give him good space-flying experience."
Dezhurov currently is training to serve on the International Space Station, which is being built by space agencies in the U.S., Russia, Europe, Japan, Canada and Brazil.
"It would make much more sense to send a young cosmonaut to Mir to give him good space-flying experience."
Cosmonaut Sergey Krikalev shares his colleague’s point of view.
A veteran space explorer who has flown on both Mir and the U.S. space shuttle, Krikalev has the following suggestion: Let the moviemakers make do with the type of makeshift sets other actors and directors have relied upon to film space shows for years. "If all this project is about is filming a few episodes [on Mir], then this could be done on the ground – in the flight simulator or the zero-G aircraft," Krikalev said.
"Honestly, I see no reason for Steklov’s flight, especially taking into consideration that it will last 45 days. What will he be doing on the station for so long?"
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