ASTRONAUT SHANNON LUCID RECEIVES RUSSIAN ORDER OF FRIENDSHIP MEDAL



May 19, 1997



Debra J. Rahn
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1778)



Eileen Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

<h4>Release: 97-103</h4> <h3>Astronaut Shannon Lucid Receives Russian 
Order of Friendship Medal</h3> 

Astronaut Shannon Lucid received the Order of Friendship medal from 
Russian President Boris Yeltsin during a ceremony at the Kremlin 
honoring Russian Cosmonauts and international astronauts who have 
flown on the Russian space station Mir in 1996.



The Order of Friendship medal is one of the highest Russian civilian 
awards and the highest award that can be presented to a non-citizen.



Dr. Lucid spent a U.S. record of 188 days in space last year. She was 
launched to Mir on the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-76) on March 22, 
1996, and returned to Earth on Atlantis (STS-79) on September 26, 
1996.



Lucid was selected as an astronaut in 1978, the first astronaut class 
to include women to train for Space Shuttle missions. Lucid has flown 
on five space missions including her Mir mission. Dr. Lucid holds 
pilot ratings in commercial, instrument and multi-engine aircraft.

	
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