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S P E C I A L Repairing Mir

Russia: Mir oxygen system up and running

Mir's chemical oxygen system caught fire in February

In this story:

August 25, 1997
Web posted at: 7:58 p.m. EDT (2358 GMT)

(CNN) -- Confusion surrounding Mir's status reigned Monday as NASA reported that both the main and backup oxygen systems on the Russian space station had apparently failed. At the same time, Russian officials said the main oxygen system was up and running and that Mir's crew was not in trouble.

NASA said that Mir commander Anatoly Solovyov and his two crewmates, cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Michael Foale, worked Monday to troubleshoot a problem with the containers that house oxygen-generating candles. Oxygen candles are a backup system but have been Mir's primary way of maintaining oxygen levels for the past several days.

NASA also said that Mir's Elektron oxygen generating systems were offline; no power is available for one, and the other, just restarted Monday after several days offline, overheated and shut itself down.

Machines that extract oxygen from waste water have also been problematic

NASA spokesman Eileen Hawley said the crew has several days' worth of ambient oxygen aboard, making the situation aboard Mir not immediately critical.

However, Russian mission control denied that the Mir crew was in any trouble, CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty reported from Moscow. A flight engineer said Vinogradov, as part of planned repairs Monday, succeeded in turning back on one of the two Elektron systems.

The system, located in the Kvant-1 module, had malfunctioned in the past few days, the engineer said. But because it was back up and running, a Russian official maintained there was enough oxygen for the crew of three to breathe.

If the Elektron and oxygen candle systems are in fact down, one NASA official said the crew could be in trouble within 24 hours unless a way is found to get more oxygen from the electrical generators or solve the oxygen canister problem.

If neither system can be repaired, the crew would have to return to Earth in the attached Soyuz escape capsule.

The Russian space agency is reluctant to direct such an escape, as it would probably mean the end of projects on Mir; a crew must be on board the station to help Soyuz capsules dock.

Communications gaps possible cause of confusion

Because the crew was sleeping and will not be available for updates until Tuesday morning, there was no way to immediately clarify the reports.

At least one official suggested that communication gaps may have created the confusion. Foale spoke with NASA in a scheduled radio communication three hours before Solovyov reported that the Elektron had been fixed.

Russian officials suggested that Foale may have reported that the Kvant-1 Elektron system was offline, and that the Russian commander's later report had not yet made it to NASA when the first reports of trouble appeared.

3 ways to get oxygen

Mir is generally equipped to provide its crew with oxygen in three different ways.

First, tanks of oxygen like those used by deep sea divers can be shipped up to the station. The crew currently has none in stock.

The next shuttle mission that could bring some isn't due to arrive at Mir until the last week of September. A Russian Progress supply ship also could bring canisters up; it is scheduled for October launch, but could potentially be launched earlier if the situation aboard Mir were to become critical.

CNN's John Holliman on Mir's oxygen systems:
icon Oxygen canisters:
234K/20 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
icon The 'Elektron' system:
559K/52 sec. AIFF or WAV sound
icon Chemical 'candles'
550K/51 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The Elektron system -- the one Russian officials say is now up and working -- is the preferred system, CNN's John Holliman said. The system converts waste water on Mir into oxygen and hydrogen, then pumps the oxygen into the station and jettisons the hydrogen.

Russian flight controllers ordered the cosmonauts to reactivate the Elektron unit in Kvant-1 even though it has been running a little warmer than desired. After the crew turned the system on, it shut itself down. NASA said this is not an uncommon occurrence after an Elektron unit is reactivated.

The second Elektron system, located in the Kvant-2 module, could not be used because power has not yet been restored to Kvant-2.

Without either of the two main systems available, crewmembers must burn oxygen candles, a third-level backup. On Monday, they were investigating a problem with the candles' container, which failed to ignite them.

NASA spokesman Ed Campion, speaking of the Elektron and oxygen candle systems, said, "These are both proven systems that have developed a problem here recently, but there's still a high degree of confidence that one or both of these systems are going to be back online here in the very near future if not already."

Wide shot of Mir

Some electrical connections working

Mir's oxygen problems came up as the crew was testing new electrical connections installed during an internal spacewalk on Friday.

Ground controllers said an additional 40 amps of power was flowing from the damaged Spektr module's reconnected solar panels, but attempts to move the electricity-generating panels to track the sun had proved unsuccessful.

Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty and Correspondent John Holliman contributed to this report.


MIR special grfk
· MIR MAIN PAGE · RELATED SITES · HISTORY ·

· TIMELINE · GALLERY · SOYUZ · CREW · REPAIR MISSION ·

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