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Mir crew fixes gyroscopes, prepares for Monday docking
July 6, 1997
Web posted at: 1:07 p.m. EDT (1707 GMT)Latest developments:
MOSCOW (CNN) -- The crew aboard Russian space station Mir has fixed the gyroscopes that orient the spacecraft toward the sun, officials said Sunday.
But there was little time to rest for the three astronauts, who were making preparations for a Monday docking with a supply ship -- the first docking since a similar craft rammed into Mir, endangering the lives of those on board.
Officials at Russian mission control said the gyroscopes, called gyrodynes, were functioning properly Saturday night and remained stable. The system orients Mir so its solar panels can soak up the sun's energy.
Supply ship to dock automatically
Without the gyrodynes, Mir has to fire its thrusters periodically to reorient itself. The repaired gyroscopes will make it easier for the crew of two Russians and one American to carry out a complex mission to restore Mir's energy supply to normal.
Since the June 25 collision, the aging space station has been running on reduced power.
A Russian cargo ship, Progress M-35, carrying 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of cables and other supplies, is due to dock with Mir on Monday. The crew will use the supplies for a repair mission scheduled for July 17 or 18.
Officials are optimistic the docking will go smoothly. The two crafts will dock automatically. The Mir crew was practicing docking manually with the previous cargo ship when the collision occurred.
"We're confident we can pull this off. Things are looking good," said a ground control official, who asked not to be identified.
Mysterious leak from Spektr confirmed
The gyroscope repair followed the latest bout of trouble aboard Mir, which happened Tuesday but was disclosed only Saturday when Russian and NASA officials confirmed there had been a mysterious leak from the punctured Spektr module.
"Five days ago, in one of our communications with the crew, we were told they had seen flakes and bubbles from an unknown source leaking from the Spektr module," a Russian specialist said. He added it was not fuel.
The leak had been into space, and there had been no repeat since that single incident.
It highlighted the dangers facing the crew when commander Vasily Tsibliev and engineer Alexander Lazutkin plan to enter the crippled Spektr module in their spacesuits to reconnect electrical cables and restore some power lost after the collision.
American astronaut Michael Foale is to sit out the repair inside the station's Soyuz emergency escape ship.
"We are very concerned about what was in that module, what might have ruptured, and what the impact might be on the suited crew members," veteran astronaut Frank Culbertson, who runs NASA's missions to Mir, told a news conference.
There are concerns the cosmonauts could get toxic materials on their spacesuits during the repair. NASA and Russian space officials were trying to determine what dangerous materials might be present inside Spektr, Culbertson said.
The white flakes seen escaping from Mir Tuesday may have been caused by something bursting inside the module and leaking through the station's ruptured hull or could have come from a damaged radiator on the exterior of the module, he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
- Message Board: Mir collision
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Related stories:
- Supply ship blasts off toward Mir - July 5, 1997
- Crucial Mir repairs delayed - July 4, 1997
- How Mir's gyrodynes work - July 3, 1997
- Mir gyros fail again; crew safe, officials say - July 3, 1997
- Mir crew cleaning house in preparation for spacewalk - June 30, 1997
- Conditions improving aboard Mir - June 29, 1997
- Mir repair may involve 'internal spacewalk' - June 26, 1997
- Debate brews: Should Mir project continue? - June 26, 1997
- Mir -- repair it or abandon it? - June 26, 1997
- 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:
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- 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 AgencyExternal sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
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