THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140233
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Briefs
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. LENGTH: 27 lines
The cosmonauts aboard Russia's space station will probably feel like slugs when Jerry Linenger arrives.
The 41-year-old astronaut is a marathon runner and triathlete who plans to put in hard time on the exercise equipment aboard Mir and will be packing a supply of nutritious Power Bars - ``no pretzels, no M&Ms, anything like that'' - when he gets to the space station tonight.
``They've got two treadmills, so I should be able to keep busy,'' he said from space shuttle Atlantis in an interview with The Associated Press.
Linenger will spend 4 1/2 months aboard Mir, replacing NASA astronaut John Blaha, who has been in orbit since September. Blaha's two Russian crewmates are five months into a six-month mission.
Linenger will be, by far, the most athletic astronaut ever to spend a long time in space, and doctors can't wait to see how he fares. Astronauts lose bone and muscle in weightlessness, a problem NASA is trying to overcome or at least manage through regular orbital exercise.
KEYWORDS: JOHN BLAHA