Gherman Alexeyvich Komlev (Russian, 1933 - 2000) "Soyuz-Saluyt Docked" Original Watercolor painting on Paper. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S.S.R. 15K Link-up of Soyuz 28 and Space Station stamp issued March 25, 1978. A day after lift-off, Soyuz 28, with cosmonauts Gubarev and Remek aboard, docked with the Salyut 6-Soyuz 27 manned space station that had been orbiting for almost three months with cosmonauts Y. Romanenko and G. Grechko in control. After the docking, checks were made on the airtightness of the docking unit. Then, cosmonauts Gubarev and Remek entered the Salyut 6 station. The cordial "old residents" gave the new boys in town a traditionally hospitable welcome. The Soyuz 28 crew brought letters, newspapers, and magazines. Soon, however, the planned work fo the joint crew aboard the space station began. The experiments performed included one that studied the oxygen regimen in the tissue of a man who was in a state of weightlessness. Another measured the change in the brightness of stars when they were set behind the night horizon of Earth. Observations of Earth were also made, especially of glaciers and the snow mantle of certain areas. One day was set aside for leisure, a day when the cosmonauts summed up the results of their experiments, exercised, and prepared research reports and personal letters for dispatch to Earth. The cosmonauts actually did the work of postal workers by cancelling several letters with a "Space Mail" postmark. Image Size: 7.75 x 9.25 in. Overall Size: 9.75 x 13.25 in. Unframed. (B05908) See More