Anatolii Artsebarskii (2014)

Anatolii Artsebarskii (1991)

Anatolii Artsebarskii and Helen Sharman on Mir (1991)

Former Russian cosmonaut Anatolii Pavlovich Artsebarskii will speak at Loncon 3 on August 17.

Artsebarskii commanded the Soyuz TM-12 mission in 1991, flying to the Mir space station with crew Sergei Krikalev and British astronaut Helen Sharman. He spent 144 days in space, carrying out six spacewalks while building the Sofora space tower onto Mir’s engine control module.

[Note: He was born before the breakup of the Soviet Union, so Russian is a guess on my part. The Wikipedia does not identify the current country of his birthplace. It also spells his name two ways — neither ending in “ii,” the spelling in Loncon 3’s press release, but in theory they’re in contact with him and should know.]

Loncon 3 Media Release: Cosmonaut Anatolii Artsebarskii to appear at Loncon 3

MEDIA RELEASE #33

Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention

14-18 August 2014 at ExCeL London

http://www.loncon3.org

[email protected]

Cosmonaut Anatolii Artsebarskii to appear at Loncon 3

London, 24 July 2014 – Loncon 3, the 72nd World Science Fiction Convention being held at London ExCeL from 14-18 August, is pleased to announce that former cosmonaut Anatolii Pavlovich Artsebarskii will be attending the entire convention and has agreed to participate in the programme. He will speak at 17.00 on Sunday 17 August.

Born on 9 September 1956, Artsebarskii was the commander of the Soyuz TM-12 mission in 1991. He flew it to the Mir space station with crew Sergei Krikalev and British astronaut Helen Sharman, and spent a total of 144 days in space. Artsebarskii carried out six spacewalks, with a total time of more than 32 hours, most of which was spent building the Sofora space tower onto Mir’s engine control module.

Artsebarskii and Krikalev were in orbit during the attempted Soviet coup in August 1991.

Artsebarskii holds the awards of Hero of The Soviet Union, Pilot-cosmonaut of the USSR, the Order of Lenin, and the medal “For accomplishments in exploration of outer space”.

For information on how to join the more than 6,000 fans of science fiction and fantasy who have already signed up to attend Loncon 3, please visit http://www.loncon3.org/memberships/.

ENDS

Anatolii Artsebarskii picture (2014): http://loncon3.org/images/cosmonaut001.jpg
Anatolii Artsebarskii picture (1991): http://loncon3.org/images/cosmonaut002.jpg
Anatolii Artsebarskii and Helen Sharman on Mir (1991): http://loncon3.org/images/cosmonaut003.jpg

For more information please contact [email protected]

ABOUT THE WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION

Founded in 1939, the World Science Fiction Convention is one of the largest international gatherings of authors, artists, editors, publishers, and fans of science fiction and fantasy. The annual Hugo Awards, the leading award for excellence in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, are voted on by the Worldcon membership and presented during the convention.

Loncon 3 is the trading name of London 2014 Ltd, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England, company number: 7989510. Registered Office: 176 Portland Road, Jesmond, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE2 1DJ, UK.

“World Science Fiction Society”, “WSFS”, “World Science Fiction Convention”, “Worldcon”, “NASFiC”, “Hugo Award”, the Hugo Award Logo, and the distinctive design of the Hugo Award Trophy Rocket are service marks of the World Science Fiction Society, an unincorporated literary society.