Artifact Category: photo, autograph.
Dimensions: 8.5 x 11.5 cm.
Description: Andriyan Nikolayev was a Soviet cosmonaut who flew on three space missions during the early years of the Soviet space program. Born in 1929 in the Chuvash Autonomous Republic, Nikolayev was a military pilot before being selected as a cosmonaut in 1960.
His first space flight was aboard Vostok 3 in 1962, during which he orbited the Earth for four days and set a new record for the longest time a human had spent in space. His second flight, on Soyuz 9 in 1970, lasted almost 18 days and was a test of the endurance of the human body in space.
Nikolayev's third and final mission was on Soyuz 19 in 1975, which was the first joint space mission between the Soviet Union and the United States. Nikolayev and his American counterpart, Thomas P. Stafford, docked their spacecraft together in orbit and conducted joint experiments.
This signed picture comes with a Letter of Authenticity from Steve Zarelli.
For more information see Nikolayev's signed postcard in my collection.
