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Peter Ribton

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First African in Space

Following tradition, the crew and their backups visit Gagarin's office, and sign a book where they describe their mission and hopes of success. The office is preserved as a museum in Star City, exactly as it was on the day of Gagarin's death.

There were journalists and photographers from all over the world at the press conference in Star City.

light Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Italian Cosmonaut Roberto Vittori and Mark Shuttleworth wave goodbye to family and friends who have come to give them a heroic send off.

Mark sees the Soyuz rocket that will take them to space and back home again for the first time.

Mark with the back-up crew on the bus to the launch pad.

Mark gets some assistance as he fills his pockets with memorabilia before the launch

The bus leaves to take the Cosmonauts to the launch pad.

It takes this many people to dress the three men in their space suits.

The crew wait to be picked up by the bus that is to take them to the launch pad. This will be their last journey on earth before reaching their destination 400kms up in outer space.

The crew of the Soyuz TM34 answer a barrage of questions from members of the international press at a press conference held before the launch.

The press conference begins from the viewpoint of the inside of the quarantine room.

These suits aren't made for walking. The spacesuits are waiting.

Hellicopters wait for the go-ahead for the early morning recovery.

During the one and a half hour helicopter journey back to Astana from the landing site, Mark and his Dad get a chance to catch up.

Mark's father, Rick, gives his cosmonaut son a great big welcome home hug.

Mark has his pulse read by one of the ground recovery surgeons.

With the capsule safely on the ground, the ground team waste no time in getting the Cosmonauts into the open air.

The capsule is burnt and discoloured from the extreme heat generated from entry into the earth's atmosphere. Mark is visible through the porthole, shortly before being extracted by the ground-recovery team.

The capsule with it's parachute cannot be missed against the flat open terrain of the landing site.

The international press photographers being transported to the day's big photo opportunity.

Roberto faces the Italian press on the day of the crew's certification for the flight.

Red Square, symbol of the center of Russian and Soviet society, is a focal point for tourists from all over Russia and the world.

This church was rebuilt in record time after the fall of communism in Russia. It is an exact replica of the original church on this site that was dynamited by Stalin and replaced with a public swimming pool

This delayed exposure shot shows the movements of the crew in the Soyuz simulator during the final test.

Yuri Gidzenko, commander of our flight, before a training run in the Soyuz simulator.

Roberto getting ready for one of our many training runs in the Soyuz sim.

Some of the experts and specialists watch the control panel during the crew's final Soyuz examination and tests. After the test, these specialists questioned the crew about their every decision and action, before pronouncing them ready to fly.

The crew settles down for their 8 hour final Soyuz test.

The three NASA cottages at Star City on a miserable winters day.

This hi-fidelity training mockup is used by the ISS crews to prepare for their visit to the station. The two modules in the foreground are the Service Module and the FGB, both designed and built in Russia. The docking module is not here, nor is there any mockup of the American segment of the ISS.

This is one of many statues and sculptures in the Star City landscape. The style is typical - very chunky and Soviet, which a heavy 'cosmos' theme. On the right are the three NASA duplex cottages, and in the distance one cn just make out the Prophylactorium where Mark Lives

A picture showing the building that houses the largest centrifuge in the world. These centrifuges are used for testing cosmonauts and equipment, and can simulate anything up to 30 g's. The most g-forces a human ever withstood was 24, in this building. That was for a short time only. Equipment is regularly tested at up to 30 g's.

Star City is still a military base, with tightly controlled access. Here a group of soldiers is at work, with their barracks in the distance.

This disused component was part of the training equipment used for cosmonauts who flew to the Mir station. It would be submerged in a giant pool, and the cosmonauts would practice spacewalking around it, avoiding the rocket thrusters and the antennae.

This picture shows the main simulator hall at Star City. In the foreground is the old docking simulator, in the distance is the new sim for the next-generation Soyuz that will be operational soon. In between lie the relics of several generations of Soyuz development since the early 1960's.

One of the most famous and revered places in Star City, and a point of pilgrimage for new visitors from around the world.

Preserved unchanged except for the glass facade, this was Gagarin's locker on the day of his tragic and early death in a jet flight training accident close to Star City. He was 33 when he died, and only 27 when he became the first human to fly to space.

This picture shows the Hydrolab at Star City. The pool is about 12m deep, filled with warmed fresh water. The modules to the right are on a platform that rises and falls, allowing them to be raised out of the water for configuration and maintenance, and lowered into the water for EVA training. Cosmonauts use this facility to practice their moves during space walks, since hanging suspended in the water is similar to weightlessness in some ways. An EVA can last up to seven hours at a stretch, so the training dives are for the same length of time.

This picture shows the crew in their final examinations in the Soyuz simulator.

This picture, taken in the Soyuz simulator during the final exam of the crew, shows Mark working through some of the flight procedures in the launch sequence.

This picture through the window of the Soyuz simulator shows Yuri using his pointer to activate systems on the control panel. Because the design of the cockpit requires the commander to be slightly lower than the other crew members, he can't reach the control panel without the stick.

he markets in Moscow are full of Russian handcraft, like this collection of matrushkas. The matrushkas are layered, with smaller ones hidden within larger ones. Usually they all follow a theme, with famous faces painted on the outside

his pictures shows the Gum department store on the left, St Basil's Cathedral in the distance, with the Kremlin on the right.

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