cosmic dancer images

 

 

These photos of the Cosmic Dancer sculpture were taken on the Mir space station by the Russian cosmonauts Gennadi Manakov and Alexander Polischuk as part of their documentation activities. The last two photos were taken at Star City prior to the mission during a training session with a wooden model of the Cosmic Dancer.

"Any hostility that some environmentalists have shown toward space projects arises from the intense sense of responsibility to focus on the needs of the planet. They have not come to appreciate - and hardly anyone has - that the long-term health of this world requires that we also develop the capacity to leave it in large numbers. So this is our dual responsibility to the planet that gave us our existence: to protect her and to spread her seeds. It is actually very simple and obvious if you think about it. Both activities are equally essential to maintain the balance of life. Now that we are mature, we must begin to take these responsibilities very seriously."
 
Steven Wolfe