A couple of space history items I came across today:

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Robert Truax‘s gigantic Sea Dragon doesn’t look as economical as often claimed when all costs are included: Historical Note: The Legend of the Sea Dragon – Citizens in Space

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Cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin became seriously ill during a mission to the orbital station Salyut-7 in the fall of 1985. Here are more details about Vasyutin and the early termination of the mission due to his illness : Vazyutin – a different kind of space hero – Sven Grahn

Summary

Space travelers that achieve hero status often make daring space walks, landing on other heavenly bodies or narrowly escaping death. But, in my book, Vladimir Vasyutin should be given a special place in the Hall of Fame. He suffered very much from illness while in space. Some of his colleagues said he hid his ailment before launch and it got worse in flight. Can all astronauts honestly say they are innocent of this very human behaviour? The final result was bad for Vladimir Vasyutin and he paid dearly for any wrong-doing and probably felt that he had failed his crew, the space program and his nation badly. But the odds were against him. Still, he fought valiantly and stayed about 65 days in orbit during his only space mission. He retired from cosmonaut duty for medical reasons in 1987. I feel much sympathy for him. Life can be very tough.Vladimir Vasyutin, space hero, passed away in 2004, at the age of fifty. I think he is well worth remembering.