Name Anatoli Blagonravov | Died 1975 | |
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Anatoli Blagonravov
Anatoli A. Blagonravov (1895–1975) was a Russian space scientist and diplomat. He represented the Soviet Union on the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). He worked closely with Hugh Dryden, his American counterpart, to promote international cooperation on space projects at the height of the Cold War. Anatoli adopted a dog named Tsygan, one of the first dogs to make a successful sub-orbital flight in 1951.
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Start of US/Soviet spaceflight cooperation
Blagonravov was instrumental in opening the door to international cooperation in human spaceflight. In April 1970, he held informal talks in New York City with NASA Administrator Thomas O. Paine, about the possibility of performing a rendezvous and docking of a US and Soviet spacecraft. This led to an agreement signed on May 24, 1972 by US President Richard M. Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, calling for such a joint manned space mission, and declaring intent for all future international manned spacecraft to be capable of docking with each other. On July 17, 1975, the crews of a US Apollo spacecraft and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft performed such a docking, visiting each other's spacecraft, shaking hands, exchanging gifts, and performing joint experiments in space.