Leak in Mir may have been located

Atlantis undocks, starts trip home

October 3, 1997
Web posted at: 7:08 p.m. EDT (2308 GMT)

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (CNN) -- The crew of the Russian space station Mir may have located an air leak in one its modules, after conducting a test Friday with the help of the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis.

As Atlantis circled with its cameras trained on Mir, the space station's crew pumped air into the depressurized Spektr module, the part of Mir damaged in a June 25 collision with a cargo ship. Debris was then seen coming from the base of a damaged solar panel array that extends, like an arm, from the module.

Russian space officials had suspected the leak was at the base of the solar array, but they couldn't located it during a spacewalk on September 5.

Footage from the Atlantis fly-by Part One Part Two

They are now making plans to possibly jettison the array and seal up the hole with a huge plug left behind during a joint U.S.-Russian spacewalk Wednesday.

Undocking Friday afternoon

Atlantis' fly-by was the last major event of a six-day joint mission. It came about two hours after the two spacecraft undocked at 12:20 p.m. CDT (1720 GMT) Friday.

The 45-minute "fly around" provided detailed pictures of the damage sustained by the space station during Mir's September collision, which rendered Spektr unusable. Some of the solar panels were crumpled, and a hole could clearly be seen in one of them.

As Mir passed over South America, the landscape below could be glimpsed through the hole. Atlantis' cameras also showed that a nearby radiator had also been crumpled, like a fender on a car. However, no debris came out of it when air was pumped through Spektr, indicating that it may not be leaking.

The undocking was delayed for more than two hours so Russian ground controllers could check newly installed navigational equipment brought to Mir by Atlantis.

Atlantis landing Sunday

Atlantis, with seven astronauts on board, is now making preparations to return to Earth. The landing is scheduled for 5:58 p.m. CDT Sunday (2258 GMT).

Atlantis also brought Mir a new crew member, American astronaut David Wolf, who will stay aboard the space station for the next four months. He replaces astronaut Michael Foale, who is coming home with Atlantis.

Correspondent John Holliman contributed to this report.

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