Autograph of 19 Cosmonauts in "Chelovek i Vselennaya" (Man in Space) by A. Leonov & space artist Andrei Sokolov. Moscow: 1976.
The half-title page of the book is signed and inscribed by space artist A. Sokolov to Fred Durant, and below, 19 cosmonauts have signed in colorful markers: Kubasov, Rukavishnikov, Leonov, Beregovoy, Zholobov, Lazarev, Klimsik, Yeliseev, Shonin, Sevastianov, Filipchenko, Artyukhin, Diomin, Aksyonov, Volynov, Markarov, Gorbatko, Khrunov, and one unidentified.
Author Alexei Leonov is a former Soviet cosmonaut who is also an accomplished artist. In 1965, he became the first person to step out of a spacecraft and walk in space. In 1975, he commanded the Soyuz spacecraft that took part in the first rendezvous between a Soviet and United States spacecraft.
Andrei Sokolov (1931-2007), Russia's foremost space artist, had his artwork carried into orbit in March 1971 aboard Soyuz 11. The paintings were gouache on nonfolding cardboard, measured 47 centimeters by 36 centimeters, and weighed 130 grams each. They were transferred to the orbiting space laboratory Salyut, to become the first orbiting art exhibition in history.
Fred Durant, for whom the book is inscribed, was assistant director and head of the Astronautics Department at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. He was hired in 1964 to bring the Smithsonian into the space age and was responsible for making the Museum the official repository for all flown NASA hardware. Numerous satellites, spacecraft, space suits, and other space paraphernalia were collected during his tenure as director. He retired from the Smithsonian in 1980.
Autograph of 19 Cosmonauts in "Chelovek i Vselennaya" (Man in Space) by A. Leonov & space artist Andrei Sokolov. Moscow: 1976.
The half-title page of the book is signed and inscribed by space artist A. Sokolov to Fred Durant, and below, 19 cosmonauts have signed in colorful markers: Kubasov, Rukavishnikov, Leonov, Beregovoy, Zholobov, Lazarev, Klimsik, Yeliseev, Shonin, Sevastianov, Filipchenko, Artyukhin, Diomin, Aksyonov, Volynov, Markarov, Gorbatko, Khrunov, and one unidentified.
Author Alexei Leonov is a former Soviet cosmonaut who is also an accomplished artist. In 1965, he became the first person to step out of a spacecraft and walk in space. In 1975, he commanded the Soyuz spacecraft that took part in the first rendezvous between a Soviet and United States spacecraft.
Andrei Sokolov (1931-2007), Russia's foremost space artist, had his artwork carried into orbit in March 1971 aboard Soyuz 11. The paintings were gouache on nonfolding cardboard, measured 47 centimeters by 36 centimeters, and weighed 130 grams each. They were transferred to the orbiting space laboratory Salyut, to become the first orbiting art exhibition in history.
Fred Durant, for whom the book is inscribed, was assistant director and head of the Astronautics Department at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. He was hired in 1964 to bring the Smithsonian into the space age and was responsible for making the Museum the official repository for all flown NASA hardware. Numerous satellites, spacecraft, space suits, and other space paraphernalia were collected during his tenure as director. He retired from the Smithsonian in 1980.