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Breaking News
Soyuz Undocks From International Space Station
Aired May 05, 2001 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: We have been watching, during the break, some grainy pictures made by a camera onboard the international space station; and what it's looking at is Soyuz, which is about to depart after eight days docked to the international space station. We are told by the feed coming to us now that the hooks and latches joining the two spacecraft have been released, and we expect Soyuz, which is very difficult to make out, admittedly, in this black and white image, which is various shades of gray, to back away in about 30 seconds.
Soyuz, of course, carrying the first tourist into space, Dennis Tito, an American financier who is said to have paid as much as $20 million to the Soviet -- to the Russian space agency for the privilege of traveling to the international space station. He traveled onboard a spare seat in the Soyuz, which is called a space taxi by people in the industry.
And they're now undocking...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Undocking confirmed.
FRAZIER: Undocking confirmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy.
FRAZIER: Let's listen to this English commentary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK; good luck. Thanks.
FRAZIER: And as the Soyuz moves away we'll...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Soyuz backing away from the aft docking port of the Zvezda service module at a rate of about 2/10 of a meter per second.
FRAZIER: Soyuz will orbit the earth once; it'll drop some of the materials you see here attached to it, and then the capsule itself will touch down on the central steppes of Kazakhstan at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where this flight originated, carrying this first tourist into space -- American Dennis Tito.
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