On 23 May, Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalyov, Vice-president of S.P. Korolev RSC Energia, pilot cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Russian Federation, was elected an honorary freeman/citizen of Saint-Petersburg. This decision was taken by the Deputies of the Legislative Assembly of Petersburg. Honorable citizens have the right to introduce laws for examination by the urban parliament, their pensions will be increased, and they do not have to pay public transport fares. The award was presented on the 27th, and photos (low-resolution only) of the presentation are available at the Official Portal of the Administration of St. Petersburg website. Photos showing Sergei (note the tie he is wearing!): 2, 8, 9, 10. Governor V.I. Matviyenko thanked cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov for his help to St. Petersburg, his support of many undertakings and projects, and active participation in the public life of his native city. There is also a press release at the Energiya site (and a portrait photo).
Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov of Expedition 15 successfully completed their spacewalk this morning (the first time for both of them). There was a 45-minute delay in starting because of communications difficulties, but the rest of the spacewalk proceeded well for 5h 25m (19:05-00:30 UTC). Fyodor Yurchikhin was EV1, Orlan-M №26 (blue stripes), BRTA-13 telemetry system; Oleg Kotov was EV2, Orlan №0520025 (25) (red stripes), BRTA-18). (Relevant thread at NASASpaceflight.com.) The second spacewalk is on 6 June.
