Police arrested an amateur biologist who flower-napped “Cosmonaut,” the only orchid ever grown in outer space, and planned to sell it on the black market to an orchid collector, a Soviet newspaper said yesterday. “Cosmonaut,” which was grown aboard the Salyut 6 space station and returned to earth in 1980, died during the bungled flower-napping. Socialist Industry newspaper said “Cosmonaut” was considered priceless because of its space origin.
Police arrested Vladimir Tyurin, 36, a down-on-his-luck amateur biologist. Tyurin, 36, who once worked on the cleanup detail at the Chernobyl nuclear power station, was the gardener at the Academy of Sciences botanical garden in Kiev. It appeared he had a Moscow buyer all lined up for “Cosmonaut” when police raided his apartment only to find the unique orchid limp and dying. The flower died before experts arrived, the newspaper said.
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