S75-32340 (July 1975) --- Cosmonauts Valeriy N. Kubasov (left) and Aleksey A. Leonov participate in English language training during Apollo-Soyuz Test Project preflight preparations at the Cosmonaut Training Center (Star City) near Moscow. Leonov was the commander of the Soviet ASTP first (prime) crew; and Kubasov was the flight engineer on the same crew. They are seated in the language laboratory at Star City. PHOTO COURTESY: USSR ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

S74-23117 (6 June 1974) --- Two astronauts associated with the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project receive instructions in the Russian language during ASTP activity at the Johnson Space Center. They are Robert F. Overmyer, a member of the support team of the American ASTP crew, who is seated at left; and Vance D. Brand (center), the command module pilot of the American ASTP prime crew. The instructor is Anatoli Forestanko.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- In the KSC Training Auditorium at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Dr. Mary Frances Berry, on stage, addresses the audience gathered for a special event marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, supported by a sign-language interpreter. Berry served as the assistant secretary for education in the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare HEW between 1977 and 1980. From 1980 to 2004, she was a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, serving as chair from 1993 to 2004. Among Berry's many honors are the NAACP's Roy Wilkins Award, the Rosa Parks Award of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Ebony Magazine Black Achievement Award. She is one of 75 women featured in the book "I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America." Sienna College Research Institute and the Women's Hall of Fame also designated her one of "America's Women of the Century." The event was presented by Kennedy's Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity. For more information about Kennedy Space Center, visit http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Center Director Roy Bridges speaks to KSC employees at the ISO certification ceremony held at the Training Auditorium. Bridges was presented an ISO 9001 certificate and plaque awarded to KSC by Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Inc., an international ISO certification organization. ISO 9001 comprises the most detailed, comprehensive set of standard requirements for quality programs established by the International Standards Organization. The presentation followed a successful independent audit by DNV of the KSC Management System in May of this year. The third-party auditors examined about 20 elements of KSC's system, including management responsibility, design control, documentation, test and inspection, and corrective action procedures. DNV found that KSC met or exceeded the stringent quality standards in all areas. KSC will use this certification as a tool to improve an already worldclass team. All NASA centers are required by NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin to be ISO 9001 registered by September 1999. NASA is the first federal agency to seek the quality certification. Next to Bridges is Heidi Hollingsworth, with the Center for Independent Living, who uses American Sign Language for any hearing-impaired employees in the audience