Russian honour for Foale

Astronauts working on the Mir space station honoured

The British-born astronaut Michael Foale has been honoured by Russia for his work on the ill-fated Mir space station.

Mr Foale was awarded the Order of Friendship by the Russian President Boris Yeltsin in a decree from the Kremlin.

The 41-year-old Nasa astronaut narrowly escaped death when the space station collided with a supply ship last year.

Foale feared he would die

He is one of several cosmonauts to have received an honour in recognition of his work on the Russian space station.

American astronaut David Wolf, who took over Dr Foale's place on Mir, also received an award, as did a group of Russian astronauts who had helped fix many of space station's failing systems after the accident.

Dr Foale returned to earth in October last year. He was on board the 14-year-old Mir when it collided with a supply ship in June 1997.

The station also came close to being abandoned after it suffered a string of problems including computer failure, fire, lack of air, power blackouts, and a further collision with a cargo ship.