The Almaz (Russian: Алмаз, "Diamond") program was a series of secret military reconnaissance space stations launched by the Soviet Union under the cover of the civilian Salyut program between 1971 and 1974. A total of three Almaz stations were launched: Salyut 2, Salyut 3 and Salyut 5. The program was also known internally as OPS (Russian: ОПС), from "Orbital Piloted Station" (Russian: Орбитальная Пилотируемая Станция).

Salyut 2 failed shortly after achieving orbit, but Salyut 3 and Salyut 5 both conducted successful manned testing. Following Salyut 5, the Soviet Ministry of Defence judged in 1978 that the time consumed by station maintenance outweighed the benefits relative to automatic reconnaissance satellites.

Almaz was promoted by Vladimir Chelomei as a response to the USAF's Manned Orbiting Laboratory project (MOL). Like its counterpart, the Almaz OPS would be launched with its initial crew atop Chelomei's UR-500 Proton rocket. After an extended stay of 30 to 60 days of military observation and photography the crew would return to Earth by way of a reusable Return Vehicle (VA).^{[citation needed]}

Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952, Macon, Georgia) is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist. She has had multiple top five hits in the UK, including her 1980 #2 hit, "One Day I'll Fly Away".

Crawford first performed at club gigs from Cincinnati to Saint-Tropez, but made her name in mid 1970s in New York, where she sang with jazzmen George Benson and Cannonball Adderley. Adderley invited her to sing on his album, Big Man (1975). Crawford recorded "Don't Get Caught in Love's Triangle," produced by Johnny Bristol, during her short stint on the Fantasy label.

In 1978, Crawford performed on the second solo album of former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. She sang vocals on "Hoping Love Will Last", the opening song on side two of Please Don't Touch.

She led R&B veterans The Crusaders on the transatlantic hit "Street Life" (1979). This song stayed atop the U.S. jazz chart for twenty weeks and has since become both a rare groove and disco classic.^{[citation needed]} It was featured in the soundtrack for the film, Sharky's Machine, and appeared in commercials in the early 2000s. She moved to Warner Bros. and after "Street Life," recorded and toured Europe with the Crusaders. Crawford was named the 'Most Outstanding Performer' at the 1980 Tokyo Music Festival.

Seu Jorge (born June 8, 1970; Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈsew ˈʒɔʁʒi]) is a Brazilian musician, singer/songwriter and actor. Born Jorge Mário da Silva, he was raised in a favela in what is now known as the city of Belford Roxo. Belford Roxo is located north of city of Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro state in the Baixada Fluminense region. Due to its proximity, Belford Roxo is considered part of the larger metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro. He is considered by many a renewer of Brazilian pop samba. Seu Jorge cites samba schools, and American soul singer Stevie Wonder as major musical influences.

As a singer, Seu Jorge was part of the band Farofa Carioca, writing most of the songs of their 1998 debut album Moro no Brasil. In 2001 he released Samba Esporte Fino, a pop album influenced by musicians Jorge Ben Jor, Gilberto Gil, and Milton Nascimento. It was released outside Brazil under the name Carolina in 2003. His second album, the critically acclaimed Cru ("Raw"), was released in 2005. Seu Jorge also recorded the live duo album "Ana & Jorge" with Brazilian singer Ana Carolina, released in Brazil in 2005.

Katri Helena (née Koistinen, born on 17 August 1945, Tohmajärvi) is a Finnish singer who has been performing since the 1960s. She has been married three times (Turunen, Kalaoja, Rajala) and is now living as a single mother.

In terms of commercial success, Katri Helena is one of the most popular singers in Finland. During her career, she has sold a total of over 630,000 certified records, which makes her the second-best-selling female soloist in Finland behind Madonna and places her also among the top 20 best-selling music artists in the Finnish market.

Katri Helena has had various hits, including "Puhelinlangat laulaa", "Katson sineen taivaan" and "Syysunelma". She has twice represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest: in 1979 with her song "Katson sineen taivaan" ("I'm Looking at the Blue Sky") and 1993 with her song "Tule luo" ("Come to me") from album "Katri Helena on spuge". She also took part in the International Sopot Festival in 1969, singing "Valssi" during the Polish day.

In the search for the 100 Greatest Finns of all time, voted in the summer of 2004, Katri Helena placed 43rd.