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U.S., Russian space missions beset by glitches
Columbia, Mir missions jeopardized
April 5, 1997
Web posted at: 8:40 p.m. ESTJOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (CNN) -- Astronauts and cosmonauts floating above the Earth were troubleshooting Saturday, keeping a careful eye on mechanical problems plaguing the U.S. shuttle Columbia and the Russian Mir space station.
Those technical difficulties have the potential to cut short both missions, but there were no immediate plans being made by either Russian or American space officials to bring their crews home.
One of three fuel cells that provide electricity on board Columbia started slowly losing power after the craft blasted off from its Florida launch pad Friday afternoon.
If that problem persists, the fuel cell would have to be shut down because of the risk that the oxygen and hydrogen inside could mix and ignite. NASA flight protocols require all three cells to be operating for Columbia to remain in orbit.
If the cell remains faulty, the condition will prematurely end the 16-day scientific mission during which 33 major experiments are planned.
Columbia's power loss may be stabilizing
NASA officials said Saturday afternoon that the power loss appeared to be leveling off. Engineers should know by Sunday whether Columbia can continue with its mission.
"Hopefully, this fuel cell's performance will continue to stabilize and level off, and we'll go the full two weeks," said Jeff Bantle, shuttle flight director.
"If not, we'll be prepared to go ahead and ... come home if we need to, to ensure that we've got a safe orbiter and a safe return of the crew."
Without all three cells, Columbia would have insufficient power for astronauts to conduct their planned experiments.
Brief jumps in voltage were detected in the malfunctioning fuel cells shortly before Columbia's launch, but shuttle managers cleared the launch to proceed. Bantle said it is not yet clear whether the pre-launch incident is related to the current problems aboard Columbia.
If Columbia returns early, it would be just the third time a U.S. shuttle mission has been cut short because of mechanical failure. During a 1981 mission, Columbia was forced to come home three days early because of a failed fuel cell. In 1991, a military mission aboard the shuttle Atlantis was aborted.
Mir using back-up systems
On Mir, Russian cosmonauts and American astronaut Jerry Lineger are awaiting the arrival of an unmanned Russian rocket that will bring them materials to repair a leaky cooling system and an oxygen generator that failed last month.
The leaks in the cooling system caused the space station to overheat last week, knocking out equipment that scrubs carbon dioxide from the air. A back-up system is being used until repairs can be made.
"I think right now they're in a good situation," said Frank Culbertson, NASA's director for the joint U.S. shuttle-Mir program. "Our people in Moscow talked to them [Saturday] morning, and they were all in very good spirits, even though it's a little warm in one of the modules."
If the repairs aren't successful, Mir's crew will have to return to earth via a space capsule attached to Mir.
Correspondent Alan Duke and Reuters contributed to this report.
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