clarinews@clarinet.com (02/02/90)
SPACE CENTER, Houston (UPI) -- Four U.S. astronauts have accepted an unprecedented Soviet invitation to witness a manned space launch, tour cosmonaut training facilities and observe the Soviet's mission control, a NASA spokesman said Thursday. Some experts believe the American decision to visit Soviet space facilities later this month signals a new era of cooperation for space exploration. ``They (the Soviets) are doing everything they can to encourage Soviet-American space cooperation for a trip to Mars or moon bases,'' said John Pike, a space policy analyst with the American Federation of Scientists in Washington. ``Their space program clearly has become a political controversy in the Soviet Union, especially its high cost. If nothing else, a cooperative flight with the United States would improve their prospects to improve their image and financing.'' The Soviet invitation, received by NASA last month and accepted Wednesday, apparently grew out of discussions between Gen. Alexei Leonov, deputy head of the cosmonaut training center, and NASA chief astronaut Dan Brandenstein, said NASA spokesman Jeff Carr. Leonov, a veteran cosmonaut who performed the first walk in space in 1965, spoke with Brandenstein several times during a visit to Johnson Space Center last summer, and the invitation was addressed to him, Carr said. ``They discussed the possibility of a future visit by astronauts to some Soviet space facilities,'' he said. Brandenstein, who just commanded a record-setting, 11-day mission of the shuttle Columbia, selected astronauts Paul Weitz, Ron Grabe and Jerry Ross to accompany him on the six-day trip, Carr said. ``What you have is four guys who represent a cross section of experience in space,'' he said. ``Brandenstein, our chief astronaut; Weitz, who is experienced in Skylab and long-duration flights; Grabe, who is working on the space station; and Ross, who is our top (spacewalk) man and has a lot of shuttle operations background.'' Weitz also is deputy director of the Johnson Space Center. Plans call for the astronauts to arrive in Moscow Feb. 9 and travel to the Soviet launch complex at Bakinour the next day to witness the launch of a manned Soviet spacecraft Feb. 11 or 12, Carr said. Following the launch, the astronauts will travel to Star City near Moscow to visit the cosmonaut training center, then will visit Soviet mission control in a Moscow suburb. They will leave Moscow Feb. 14. A number of cosmonauts have visited NASA facilities, Carr said, but he did not believe any had been at mission control during shuttle flights. A cosmonaut did witness a shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center last year.