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Astronauts

Astronaut Visit Results in Blacklisting by Azerbaijan

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
September 19, 2012
Filed under

Azerbaijan joins its “black list” of U.S. astronauts (translated via Google), Armenia Today
“Azerbaijan joins its “black list” of U.S. astronauts. Azerbaijani authorities intend to declare persona non grata two foreign nationals who recently visited the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. This is an astronaut Charles Duke and Claude Nicollier. Duke and Nicole were part of a scientific conference “Man and Space”, which was held in Stepanakert. The conference was dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong. … The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan now claim that for “illegal, inconsistent with Azerbaijan” visit Karabakh astronauts will be included in the list of persona non grata.”
Keith’s note: The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not officially recognized by Azerbaijan (or anyone else) and is aligned with Armenia. Since Duke and Nicollier “joined” a list, I guess that list already existed. What other astronauts have insulted the Republic of Azerbaijan? Its not all together clear if being on the “black list” is an honor or an insult. I guess we need to ask Borat.
Full translation below

“Azerbaijan joins its “black list” of U.S. astronauts. Azerbaijani authorities intend to declare persona non grata two foreign nationals who recently visited the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. This is an astronaut Charles Duke and Claude Nicollier.
Duke and Nicole were part of a scientific conference “Man and Space”, which was held in Stepanakert. The conference was dedicated to the memory of the recently deceased U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong.
Speaking at the event, President Bako Sahakyan thanked foreign guests for their visit, noting that the conference will contribute to the development of science in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan now claim that for “illegal, inconsistent with Azerbaijan” visit Karabakh astronauts will be included in the list of persona non grata.
American Charles Duke was part of the Apollo 16 expedition. He became the youngest astronaut walked on the moon. Swiss Claude Nicollier made four space flights (from 1992 to 1999). Their total length is more than 40 days.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

4 responses to “Astronaut Visit Results in Blacklisting by Azerbaijan”

  1. Rocky Persaud says:
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    This republic seems to have an 8-bit flag.

  2. Dewey Vanderhoff says:
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    I’m old enought to remember that the US  State Department forbid Nikita Krushchev from visiting Disneyland  on one of his rare visits to America during the Cold War. He actually wanted to go there, and we actually didn’t let him.

    Maybe the policymakers thought Krushchev would get too many ideas or raw intel  from Tomorrowland

    • Steve Pemberton says:
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      An interesting historical footnote – in October 1959, just a month after Khrushchev’s thwarted visit to Disneyland, the President of Guinea visited Disneyland, escorted by Khrushchev’s future Cold War nemesis, Senator John F. Kennedy.

      If Khrushchev had gone to Disneyland on that visit he might have visited a Tomorrowland attraction called “Rocket to the Moon”, simulating a trip to the Moon.  Rocket to the Moon was part of the original Tomorrowland which opened along with the rest of Disneyland in 1955. In 1967 Rocket to the Moon was updated with new features including a visit to a simulated Mission Control and renamed “Flight to the Moon”.  In 1975 it was updated to “Mission to Mars”.

      For nearly forty years, under its various names and destinations, the attraction gave millions of visitors a fairly realistic (considering that this was Disneyland) view of space travel.  Unfortunately the technology of the attraction was never updated, and compared to the nearby Star Tours ride it was embarrassingly outdated by the time it closed in 1992.  

      The Tomorrowland building that that been the home of Rocket to the Moon, Flight to the Moon, and Mission to Mars sat vacant for many years. In 1998 the building finally reopened as a restaurant – Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port.   Insert sad parallels here.

      There was also a Mission to Mars attraction at Walt Disney World in Florida from 1975 to 1993.