Mark Schuler (American, B. 1951) "First Space Station Crew 1971" Signed lower right. Original Watercolor painting on Illustration Board.

Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.

This painting was originally published on the Republic of the Marshall Islands 45c First Space Station Crew stamp issued November 24, 1989.

On 23 April 1971, the Soviets had placed Soyuz 10 into orbit. Following an early morning launch, Soyuz began its rendezvous maneuvers and docked with Salyut I on the afternoon of the 24th. The final docking took place in two stages. The automatic systems brought the manned craft within 180 meters of the target vehicle, and then spacecraft commander Vladimir Alexandrovish Shatalov took over. After ninety minutes, he guided the Soyuz to a successful docking. The two vehicles remained joined for five hours and thirty minutes while a series of experiments were conducted with the flight systems of both Soyuz and Salyut. Much to the surprise of most observers, there was no attempt to transfer either Alexei Stanislavovich Yeliseyev or Nikolai Nikolayevich Rukavishnikov into the space station. After separation from Salyut, the crew of Soyuz 10 conducted circular maneuvers around the station, taking photographs and transmitting live television pictures of it to the ground.

Image Size: 12 x 12 in.
Overall Size: 20 x 20 in.
Unframed.
(B12219)

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