Astronaut Norman E. Thagard, flying on the Russian Mir space station, sets the U.S. record for spaceflight endurance, passing 84 days, one hour, and 17 minutes in space. The previous U.S. record- holders were the three astronauts on the third Skylab mission in 1974.
With a fresh directive from the president, the department could opt to repeat its unconventional—and potentially unlawful—move to pay troops using unused non-personnel appropriations.
