MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The Black Sea Fleet will continue training cosmonauts for emergency landings, the fleet's press service informs.
The latest training of the kind was held in Sevastopol in 2004. Specialists selected seven Russians, two Kazakhs and two NASA astronauts for training their skills in case the returnable capsule splashes down.
The training aimed to ensure self-safety and survivability at splashdown was supervised by Colonel Yury Gidzenko, the Hero of Russia, who heads a department of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. The technical support of the training was provided by the crew of the Cheleken hydrographic ship of the Black Sea Fleet, accompanied with the VM-125 ship and the fleet's emergency situations specialists, the press service informs.
According to the press service, the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet have a wealth of expertise in supporting cosmonauts' training. Taking into account the favorable climate in the area where the fleet is stationed, a decision was made back in the USSR time to use the fleet's capabilities to train cosmonauts. First experimental training of parachutists was held in the Crimea in 1963. Specialized equipment for training cosmonauts was first utilized in 1969, while training turned regular since 1972. The Black Sea Fleet used to train cosmonauts from Russia and other socialist countries at that time. Western astronauts were invited to participate about a decade ago.
The Black Sea Fleet was involved into the procedures from 1972 to 1991 providing training to 30 crews of manned spacecraft. Yet another several dozen cosmonauts from various countries have undergone splashdown training in the Crimea in the past few years.
According to Colonel Andrei Chabanenko, deputy head of the Black Sea Fleet's Search and Emergency Department, the experience of the fleet's servicemen will most likely be in demand in 2005, too. "We have preliminary agreement with the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, but we need to discuss everything in detail. As for the Black Sea Fleet, we are sure to fulfil all obligations in terms of training," he said.