Paris – June 16, 1997 – The Russian Space Agency, often described in the western press as broke or short of cash, has gathered its Rubles together and is making a major splash at the 42nd Paris Air Show, running from June 14-24th at LeBourget Field near Paris, France. RSA vastly expanded its showing from the last Paris show in 1995, and brought for exhibit a full size engineering mockup of the Functional Building Block module destined for the International Space Station. The huge module, an exact duplicate of the one to be orbited in 1999, will be open for inspection by air show attendees and press. The module isn’t the Russians only Paris exhibit. They are also set to show off Soyuz space capsules, reentry vehicles, full-size rocket engines, a mock-up of the MIR space station, and more models of Russian space hardware than has been seen in one place before.
While visitors gawk at the space equipment inside, they will also get a look at Russia’s most advanced aerospace hardware outside. Flying demonstrations are also planned of the Su-37, MiG-AT, and other advanced fighter and trainer aircraft.
