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Mir's age begins to show
April 5, 1997
Web posted at: 4:52 p.m. EST (2152 GMT)
From Correspondent Linden Soles
(CNN) -- Launched in 1986, the Mir space station was designed to last until 1996. It's still flying a year later, but filled with problems.
In 1995, television audiences got a tour of the space station's interior while the first joint shuttle-space station mission was underway.
Basically, the Mir is a collection of separate modules. The main module houses most of the station's life support systems. A new module houses additional life support, and all of them hook into a main docking area.
The Mir's troubles first began to show in February, when oxygen generators caught fire and smoke literally filled the space station.
With the generators down, the astronauts need some other source of air to breath. So they've been relying on chemical reaction generators similar to ones aboard most U.S. airlines.
In a recent interview with CNN, U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger -- who's been aboard Mir since January -- said he wasn't overly concerned.
"I'm prepared to take action should we have further problems," he said. "We are prepared all the time to come home if need be."
If they have to get home in a hurry, Linenger and his two Russian counterparts would use the Soyuz capsule docked at the end of the main compartment.
Related stories:
- Space station crew waits for supply ship - April 5, 1997
- New oxygen problems on Mir - April 4, 1997
- Atlantis prepares to undock from Mir - January 19, 1997
- NASA astronaut says you can't beat the Mir - May 29, 1996
- Mir + 10 - February 20, 1996
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