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Model of the Salyut 7 space station, the last of the Salyut space stations employed by the Soviet space program, and the precursor to the Mir. The model has a Soyuz T and a Progress cargo ship docked to it, three detachable solar panels, antennae and transponders. It is hand-assembled of steel and plastic components polished and painted in pigments of ivory white and burnt umber, and mounted on a rhomboid wooden plinth with brass engraved presentation plaque, all on a rectangular velvet-lined wooden base.
This model was a presentation by the Soviet space program to Soviet cosmonaut Anatoly Berezovoy commemorating his long Salyut-7 mission in 1982. It was later signed on the wooden plinth in felt-tip pen by Berezovoy for his consignment of it to a special auction of Soviet space program memorabilia conducted at Sothebys, New York in 1996. The brass presentation plaque, in Russian, celebrates the accomplishment of 211 days in space during 1982. During their residency aboard Salyut 7, Berezovoy, the mission commander, and flight engineer Valentin V. Lebedev received visits from two three-person crews, including the first coed crew of Soyuz T-7. Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall wear and abrasions. One antenna somewhat bent, one solar panel slightly cracked. Rectangular base possibly originally the bottom of a carrying box fitted thereto, now lacking. Reference: Murphy, Sarah M. "Salyut 7 Space Station, Crews." 8 February 2000. The Astronaut Connection. http://www.nauts.com/vehicles/80s/salyut7/index.html (21 April 2003). |