Russian Space Capsule to be Auctioned in May; Historic Soyuz Spacecraft is Artifact of Shuttle-Mir Program
Space Media,
Inc., a subsidiary of SPACEHAB, Inc. , announced today that its
online retail division The Space Store(TM) (http://www.thespacestore.com ) has
consigned a Russian Soyuz space capsule to Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills
for sale at auction next month.
Superior Galleries (http://www.superiorgalleries.com ) will conduct the
auction of the spacecraft as part of its
“Spring Memorabilia Auction,” to
take place May 5-6 at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying.
In addition,
Icollector.com will conduct real-time global online bidding.
Space Media and The Space Store acquired the rights to sell the 2.8-ton
Soyuz artifact from its builder and owner RSC Energia of Korolev, Russia, last
year.
About the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, the TM-26 capsule still exhibits
evidence of its fiery transit from space to Earth.
It remains equipped with
cosmonaut couches and electronic control panels.
Along with the capsule, the
new owner of the Soyuz TM-26 will acquire an invitation to attend a Russian
space launch and tour Russia’s Star City cosmonaut training complex and RSC
Energia’s facilities in Korolev.
The Soyuz TM-26 launched to Mir on August 5, 1997, with cosmonauts Anatoly
Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov aboard.
During their mission, part of the joint
U.S.-Russian Shuttle-Mir program, the two cosmonauts performed emergency
repairs on Mir following a collision with a Progress resupply vehicle.
They
returned to Earth in the Soyuz TM-26 on February 19, 1998, logging a total of
198 days in space.
In addition to the cosmonauts, U.S. astronauts Michael
Foale, David Wolf and Andrew Thomas boarded Mir and the Soyuz TM-26 during
this time.
“Providing public access to space artifacts such as the Soyuz TM-26 is one
way in which we are responding to widespread public interest in space
exploration,” said Dr. Shelley A. Harrison, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of SPACEHAB and Space Media.
“We are especially pleased that the
first artifact we have offered for sale is a symbol of U.S.-Russian
cooperation in space.”
“On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space and
officially ignited the ‘space race’ with the Russians.
Forty years later to
the day, The Space Store(TM) is able to offer for sale this historic capsule
that was a part of joint American-Russian space exploration efforts,” said The
Space Store President Dayna Justiz.
The Soyuz TM-26 capsule is only the second spacecraft, either U.S. or
Russian, ever to be offered for public sale.
The first, the Russian Soyuz TM-
10 capsule, was sold at auction in 1993 for $1.65 million.
The Soyuz TM-26 is
the first Shuttle-Mir spacecraft ever to be offered for sale.
(Under the
U.S.-Russian Shuttle-Mir program, SPACEHAB logistics modules carried equipment
and supplies to Mir on seven space missions from 1996 to 1998 — see
http://www.spacehab.com/mission/mission_index.htm .)
Originally developed in the 1960s to support then-Soviet efforts to land
on the moon, the Soyuz played a key role in the U.S.-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test
Project launched in 1975.
Soyuz capsules are launched attached to so-called
habitation modules containing crew quarters; these “stacked” spacecraft can
dock with a space station for up to six months at a time.
Accommodating up to
three people, the capsules separate from habitation modules for their return
flights to Earth.
Recognizing the demand for space-related gear that could be purchased
outside of NASA space centers, former Houston radio personality Justiz and her
husband, NASA pilot Dr. Charles Justiz, founded The Space Store in 1997.
SMI
acquired the business last year.
The Space Store carries more than 500
different space items including NASA flight suits for children and adults,
space food, space mission patches, space toys and more.
Founded in 1984, with more than $100 million in annual revenue, SPACEHAB,
Inc., is a leading provider of commercial space services.
The company is the
first to develop, own, and operate habitat modules and cargo carriers
providing laboratory facilities and resupply capabilities aboard NASA’s Space
Shuttles.
It also supports astronaut training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center
in Houston, builds space-flight trainers and mockups.
SPACEHAB’s Astrotech
subsidiary provides commercial satellite processing services at facilities in
Florida and California in support of a range of expendable launch vehicles,
including Lockheed Martin’s Atlas and Boeing’s Delta and Sea Launch rockets.
SPACEHAB’s newest strategic growth initiative, Space Media, Inc. (SMI(TM) a
subsidiary), will bring space into homes and classrooms worldwide with
television and Internet broadcasting from the International Space Station.
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.
CONTACT:
Linda Billings, Director of Communications of SPACEHAB, Inc.,
202-488-3500, or 888-647-9543, or billings@hqspacehab.com.
