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Merkel speaks to German astronaut at ISS
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    • BERLIN, July 20 (AFP) Jul 20, 2006
     German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday telephoned German astronaut Thomans Reiter at the International Space Station where he is staying for six months.

    The chancellor, a trained scientist, spoke to Reiter about his daily tasks at the ISS and wished him "good luck", in the five-minute conversation that was broadcast on German public television.

    Reiter is the first German astronaut to take up residence at the ISS since it was opened in November 2000.

    He arrived at the beginning of July, along with an American and a Russian.

    Merkel, calling from the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt in southwestern Germany, started off the conversation in Russian, a language she learnt while growing up in the former communist East Germany.




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