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| S P E C I A L | Repairing Mir |
NASA: Wolf will go to Mir
Shuttle to lift off Thursday night
September 25, 1997
Web posted at: 10:11 a.m. EDT (1011 GMT)WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Astronaut David Wolf is getting his wish. He's going to spend four months on the aging, trouble-prone Mir space station -- if shuttle Atlantis blasts off as scheduled Thursday night, NASA's administrator announced early in the day.
"As the person who bears the ultimate responsibility for America's space program, I have been diligently reviewing the independent and internal safety assessments," Daniel Goldin said at a news conference.
Watch the news conference
17 min. 30 sec. VXtreme video
"I have concluded shuttle Mir has had a thorough review process that ensures continued American participation on board Mir and does not put human life in unnecessary peril."
He waited until the last possible moment to announce his decision to send Wolf to Mir aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, which is to be launched at 10:34 p.m. EDT.
Former U.S. astronaut Thomas Stafford, head of a Mir safety review panel, said Wednesday he recommended to Goldin that Wolf's mission proceed as scheduled. Goldin also consulted with the head of another safety review committee.
Wolf acted as though he already knew the outcome.
"See you in four to five months," the relaxed-looking astronaut said Wednesday during a gathering of friends and family at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, launch pad.
Wolf, 41, an unmarried doctor and engineer who spent the past year undergoing cosmonaut training in Russia, has said repeatedly that he's eager to move aboard Mir.
Regardless of what Goldin had decided, Atlantis was still scheduled for a weekend rendezvous with Mir.
In addition to bringing home U.S. astronaut Michael Foale after a 4 1/2-month stay on the space station, the shuttle crew also is to drop off a replacement computer, patches to plug holes, food, water and other urgently needed supplies.
The 11 1/2-year-old Mir has encountered series of problems over the past seven months, most notably a fire and collision that almost forced the crew to abandon ship.
However, despite the drama of those incidents, many experts are more worried about recurring problems: computer crashes, oxygen-generator breakdowns and malfunctions in the carbon dioxide-removal system.
On Monday, Mir's computer failed for the third time this month, sending the ship spinning in space. The three-man crew fixed it within a day.
NASA's inspector general expressed concern about the glitches in testimony before the House Science Committee last week, and committee leaders oppose sending Wolf on the mission.
Wolf would be the sixth American to live on Mir and help pave the way for a planned international space station. The first NASA astronaut to live on Mir arrived in March 1995.
· MIR MAIN PAGE · RELATED SITES · HISTORY ·
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Related stories:
- Mir faces sun again, computer glitch fixed - September 16, 1997
- Report: Conditions on Mir much worse than thought - September 12, 1997
Related sites:
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- Text of Goldin's statement
- NASA Shuttle-Mir Web- official NASA site for U.S. astronauts and their activities aboard the Russian Mir Space Station
- NASA Office of Inspector General
- 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
- Russian Space Research Institute (IKI)
- MIR Space Station - news, research, history, images and links from Maximov Online
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