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Mir -- repair it or abandon it?
Russian officials considering options
Latest developments:
June 26, 1997
Web posted at: 10:44 a.m. EDT (1444 GMT)(CNN) -- Following the worst orbital collision ever, the Russian Space Agency said Thursday it is considering two options for the 11-year-old Mir space station: repair it with a spacewalk or abandon it, probably forever.
Two Russian cosmonauts and one U.S. astronaut are on board the ship, which lost power and was punctured in a Wednesday collision with an unmanned supply ship.
Evacuating all members of the crew would effectively mean that the Russians could not return to the craft. A constant crew presence is required on Mir, partly because no ship can dock with Mir unless someone is on board to coordinate the docking, and partly because the station is being kept in orbit manually while its automatic guidance systems are inoperative.
Without crew members aboard, Mir's orbit would quickly deteriorate, and the station would eventually fall toward Earth.
Animation of collision (QuickTime movie)
2.7 MB/43 sec./160x120
animation by Analytical Graphics.Russia considering spacewalk repair
The Russian Space Agency says that a spacewalk to examine and perhaps repair the damage to the Spektr section of the station could be mounted within 10 to 14 days, but not before serious consideration is given to the benefits of such an operation versus the possible risks.
See video of the
damage to Mir
If no walk is carried out and the space station continues to be affected by the damage to its power and life support systems, the Russian Space Agency says the other option is to "not fix it," which seems to indicate that they would evacuate the crew.
Mir has an attached Soyuz capsule that can bring the astronauts home in an emergency.
The Russians say they are also putting serious and urgent thought into what supplies and repair equipment they might be able to send up to Mir on a supply vessel being launched in about 10 days.
The cargo ship was to have been launched on Friday, but was postponed for at least 10 days in order to load it with repair materials. Russian space officials want to send up power cables to repair solar batteries on the damaged portion of the station.
Mir remains low on power
Mir collided Wednesday with an unmanned Progress supply ship, as the crew practiced docking with the ship by remote control. Commander Vasily Tsibliyev could not slow down the bus-sized ship, and it slammed into Mir's laboratory module, Spektr -- one of the aging space station's six modules.
Mir-Shuttle Program Manager Frank Culbertson: "The crew is doing well ..."
(221K/19 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
"The decompression is not necessarily attributable to age ..."
(162K/13 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
"Power loss on Mir ..."
(162K/14 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
"This situation was unforseen ..."
(323K/29 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)The crash knocked out about half the power to the craft, puncturing one of the laboratory module's solar panels, and knocking the ship off the ideal angle for the remaining solar panels to absorb energy from the sun, said Frank Culbertson, director of NASA's shuttle-Mir program.
Thursday morning, the crew used precious fuel to fire thrusters to turn the station so its solar batteries could recharge, said Vera Medvedkova, a spokeswoman for Russian Mission Control.
Although Mir crew members are apparently in no immediate danger, they continue to desperately try to conserve power aboard the ship, dimming all lights and turning off all non-essential equipment. Unless more power is restored soon -- how soon, NASA couldn't say -- they may not be able to operate their life-support systems, such as the primary oxygen generators and the carbon dioxide removal system.
NASA astronaut says experiments lost
NASA Astronaut Bill Readdy
On the mood of the Mir crew...
256 K/18 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Colin Foale the astronaut's father... 256 K/19 sec. AIFF or WAV sound The crash left a smooth, round postage-stamp sized hole in Spektr. When the astronauts heard the oxygen hissing out of the hole, they immediately shut the hatch, sealing Spektr off from the rest of the space station -- and sealing NASA astronaut Michael Foale off from his clothes, bed and about half of the science research he was conducting.
Foale told a Moscow-based NASA representative Thursday morning that most of the experimental data he has been working on in the Spektr module has been lost. Colin Foale, the astronaut's father, said he thought the Russians were lucky to have his son, an experienced astronaut who is fluent in Russian, on board during the accident.
- Message Board: Mir collision
- CNN In-Depth: Space
Related stories:
- Crippled Mir turns to sun for needed solar energy - June 26, 1997
- Mir has 3-man 'lifeboat' ready - June 25, 1997
- Mir's woes raise doubts about U.S.-Russian cooperation - June 25, 1997
- Mir at half power after collision - June 25, 1997
- No plans to abandon Mir - June 25, 1997
- Russian supply ship collides with space station Mir - June 25, 1997
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- NASA Shuttle-Mir Web - information about the Mir Space station is provided by NASA
- Spektr - section of the space station that was hit
- MIR Space Station - Radio Transmit Info - includes information about how to transmit and receive communications with MIR through amateur radio
- ISS Phase I - Space Station Mir - contains graphics and specifications of the diferent areas of MIR
- Russian Space Agency - homepage of the Russian Space Agency through the NASA site
- Pictures and Movies - contains pictures of MIR and MIR missions as released by the Russian Space Agency
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