Russian Soyuz Capsule on Sale to General Public by Space Media Inc. and The Space Store
Media, Inc.’s thespacestore.com Along With Bonus VIP Tour of Star City
Training Facility
WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 18, 2000 – Three and one-half years after its first
launch to Space Station MIR, at the peak of joint American and Russian
long-term space exploration, the Russian Soyuz TM26 Descent Capsule has
temporarily docked at Space Media, Inc’s(tm) (SMI(tm)) e-commerce site, The
Space Store(tm) (www.thespacestore.com) it was announced today by SMI Senior
Vice President Chris Petersen. It is for sale to the general public for
$2.2 million. Space Media, Inc. is a subsidiary media corporation of
SPACEHAB, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAB).
“The acquisition offers space enthusiasts around the world the opportunity
to own a piece of history,” said Petersen. “The new Soyuz owner and a guest
will be granted access to a Russian space launch and a guided VIP tour of
Star City, which is the Russian training facility for both cosmonauts and
astronauts.”
“Space Media, Incorporated is dedicated to sharing the excitement and wonder
of space exploration with everyone, everywhere,” said Dr. Shelley Harrison,
SMI chairman. “Part of that is sharing the tools for space exploration, and
we are proud to offer this spacecraft — used only once and none the worse
for wear after its first 79 million miles of travel.”
Nearly every Russian crew has used this model spaceship, making it one of
the most successful spacecraft designs in history. Cosmonauts Anatoly
Soloviev and Pavel Vinogradov were aboard on Aug. 5, 1997, during a mission
to make emergency repairs to the legendary space station MIR. U. S.
astronaut Dave Wolf spent hours in this Soyuz TM-26 during a critical
emergency space walk, maintaining a safe refuge for cosmonauts Soloviev and
Vinogradov in case their repairs failed, forcing them to bail out of the
orbiting station. The Soyuz TM-26 returned on Feb. 19, 1998, logging a
total of 198 days in space.
Originally developed to support then-Soviet efforts to land on the moon, the
Soyuz capsule is a proven design conceived and first built in the 1960s.
The design was one of two spacecraft involved in the first joint space
effort involving the United States and the then-Soviet Union. The
Apollo-Soyuz project, or Soyuz-Apollo as it was known in Russia, took place
in July 1975. It is launched attached to a so-called “habitability module”
containing basic crew living quarters, and the entire “stack” is docked to
either the MIR or the International Space Station for up to six months at a
time. The descent capsule being offered for sale is separated from the rest
of the launched vehicle and provides safe passage home for up to three space
travelers.
“The Soyuz is a remarkable and dependable spacecraft,” Dr. Harrison noted.
Recognizing the demand for space-related gear that could be purchased
outside of the NASA Space Centers, former Houston radio personality and
talk-show host Dayna Steele-Justiz and her husband, test pilot Charlie
Justiz, founded The Space Store in 1997. Recently acquired by SMI and
dedicated to space enthusiasts of all ages, especially children, The Space
Store carries more than 400 different space items including NASA flight
suits for adults and kids, space food, real astronaut mission patches, space
toys and more.
Although a young business, SMI has earned recognition from the educational
community with its highly successful S*T*A*R*S(tm) (Space Technology and
Research Students) program. Recently honored by the Smithsonian’s National
Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and marketed with the assistance
of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, S*T*A*R*S is a
commercial education initiative designed to engage students in science and
technology while enabling them to share in the excitement of space research
and exploration by designing and flying their own experiments in space. More
than 500,000 children in eight countries around the world are active
participants in the S*T*A*R*S program. Earlier this month, the United
Nations Director of the Office for Outer Space Affairs, Mazlan Othman
announced the launch of UN-S*T*A*R*S(tm) Program which will further expand
the program to increase interest in space technology among students in
developing countries.
In addition to its involvement with the S*T*A*R*S program, SMI is creating
proprietary content for broadcast and Internet distribution. SMI announced
earlier this year that it owns all multimedia rights for the first
commercial broadcasting studio and multimedia production facility in space,
the Enterprise*. Built by SPACEHAB and RSC Energia (RSCE), the module is to
be launched to the International Space Station in 2003. SMI has formed a
new partnership, Enermedia LLC with RSCE. This company enjoys
non-competitive rights for multimedia activities aboard the Russian segments
of the International Space Station and, together with RSCE, is developing
multimedia products based on the extensive archives of the Russian space
program, which are maintained by RSCE. As part of these multimedia
endeavors with RSCE, SMI is committed to assisting Energia in preserving
these historical space materials for future generations. RSCE is the
premier aerospace company in Russia and has built nearly every spacecraft
from the original Sputnik through MIR and the Zvezda module on the ISS.
SPACEHAB is the world’s leading provider of commercial services for manned
and unmanned missions in space. SPACEHAB is the first company to
commercially develop, own and operate habitable modules that provide
laboratory facilities and logistics aboard NASA’s Space Shuttles. The
company also supports NASA astronaut training at Johnson Space Center in
Houston.
# # #
This release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected in such statements. Such risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, whether the company will fully realize the
economic benefits under its NASA and other customer contracts, the timing
and mix of Space Shuttle missions, the successful development and
commercialization of new space assets, technological difficulties, product
demand, timing of new contracts, launches and business, market acceptance
risks, the effect of economic conditions, uncertainty in government funding,
the impact of competition, and other risks detailed in the Company’s
Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Dayna Justiz
president@thespacestore.com
www.thespacestore.com
1331 Gemini
Suite 250
Houston TX 77058
(281) 853-1199
(281) 853-1196 Fax
(877) 742-2311 Toll Free
