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| S P E C I A L | Repairing Mir |
Mir plugged in again
Risky repairs completed
August 22, 1997
Web posted at: 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT) Latest developments:
- 11 power cables reattached ...
- ... but full power not yet restored
- Work done in dark
- Problems before success
- Related stories and sites
(CNN) -- After a rocky start -- including a leaking spacesuit -- two Russian cosmonauts completed a risky internal spacewalk on Friday, reconnecting power cables in the damaged module of the Mir space station.
"It was an outstanding effort. We're very pleased with the results," said Jim Van Laak, NASA's deputy manager for the Mir program.
The cosmonauts aboard Mir completed their first spacewalk today. CNN's John Holliman explains how things went.The cosmonauts reattached 11 cables leading to electricity-generating solar panels on Spektr, a scientific module left dark and airless since it was hit by a cargo craft June 25. The 39-foot capsule is about the size of a small school bus and crammed with scientific experiments.
The reconnected cables must still be hooked up to the rest of Mir and systems tested before full power is turned back on. Ground Control said the crew would rest Saturday and Sunday and work would resume Monday.
Mir Repair Mission
Work done in the dark
Working in a tight space by artificial light, rookie cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov managed to connect the cables and retrieve records and other items -- including a vacuum cleaner -- floating around Spektr since the crash.
He and mission commander Anatoly Solovyov, who assisted from just outside the entrance to Spektr, then sealed a new hatchway to the module before reuniting with U.S. colleague Michael Foale.
During the spacewalk, Foale manned Mir's Soyuz transport capsule in case something went wrong and the trio had to escape.
"I think this is a super day, and we carried out everything that we set out to do and more," said Foale.
The crew also checked Spektr for damage caused by the June collision but did not find the puncture. Vinogradov said he found Spektr "in good order."
Problems before success
The mission's success came after a pair of early problems that caused a two-hour delay.
First, there was a leaking hatch in the docking chamber outside Spektr. Later, Vinogradov discovered a leak in one glove of his spacesuit, nearly causing the spacewalk to be aborted. "It's all very serious," Solovyov said at the time, before a replacement glove was found.
The crew had to repressurize the docking capsule twice, first to fasten the leaking hatch and again when Vinogradov got a new glove.
The spacewalk itself took three hours and 16 minutes, said NASA's Jerry Miller, with about two hours of that time needed for reconnecting the power cables.
Correspondents John Holliman, Betsy Aaron and Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.
· MIR MAIN PAGE · RELATED SITES · HISTORY ·
· TIMELINE · GALLERY · SOYUZ · CREW · REPAIR MISSION ·
- CNN In-Depth: Space
- Video Almanac: 1996 - Mir and Atlantis dock
- Video Almanac: 1986 - Soviets launch Mir
- Message Board: Repairing Mir
Related stories:
- Crucial Mir spacewalk under way- August 22, 1997
- Mir spacewalk resumes after initial problems - August 22, 1997
- Mir crew rests ahead of Friday's spacewalk - August 21, 1997
- Mir crew ready for unprecedented repair mission - August 20, 1997
Related sites:
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- American Society for Gravitational and Space Biology
- Russian Space Science Internet
- Russian Space Research Insstitute (IKI)
- NASA Shuttle-Mir Web
- Keith's MIR Page
- ISS Phase I - Space Station Mir
- Russian Space Agency
- MIR Space Station - Maximov Online
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