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| S P E C I A L | Repairing Mir |
Crucial Mir spacewalk under way
August 22, 1997
Web posted at: 11:06 a.m. EDT (1506 GMT)
(CNN) -- The long-awaited Mir spacewalk was proceeding Friday after cosmonauts resolved two early problems -- difficulty with a hatch door seal and a leaking spacesuit.
Russian officials had considered canceling the mission to reconnect power cables after the spacesuit problem, in part because the cosmonauts had a limited supply of oxygen.
The cosmonauts began the mission with about an eight-hour supply, which they began using when they put on their spacesuits at approximately 4:15 a.m. EDT (0815 GMT) .
Pavel Vinogradov, the cosmonaut who entered the Spektr capsule while the mission commander assisted from just outside the entrance, said the darkened capsule looked in good order but reported "some white crystals flying around like soap."
One cosmonaut said it probably was American astronaut Michael Foale's shampoo.
A L S O :
Mir means money, pride for Russia
Diagram of the spacewalk plan The start of the spacewalk was delayed for about two hours by a leak in Vinogradov's left spacesuit glove, detected moments before he was to enter the damaged Spektr science module to survey damage from a June 25 collision and reconnect the power cables.
Russian officials had described the situation as 'serious,' although the cosmonauts were said to be safe. The transfer node where Vinogradov and Flight Commander Anatoly Solovyov had been standing was repressurized; Vinogradov put on a new spacesuit glove and the node, which connects Spektr to rest of the spacestation, was depressurized again, allowing the mission to continue.
Earlier Friday Solovyov had to get out of his suit to re-seal a leaky hatchway leading to another module. The leak was sealed, but the problem delayed the spacewalk about an hour. (Astronaut Norm Thagard explains the hatch problem 288K/25 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)
A cargo ship slammed into the space station in June, the worst accident in Mir's 11-year history. The ship punctured Spektr, leaking oxygen into space and forcing the crew to seal off the module and its vital solar panels. Since then, Mir has operated on about half power.
NASA said the cosmonauts face three main mission priorities:
- Restore power from Spektr.
- Reclaim some hardware if possible.
- Make brief inspections for the leak source in the punctured module.
Russian and U.S. space officials have said that if the Russians fail to restore power, the mission could be Mir's last.
That would leave Earth with no working space station and no laboratory for testing aspects of the planned international space station. It would also hurt the cash-strapped Russian Space Agency, which relies on funding from the United States and other nations that send their astronauts to Mir.
If the crew succeeds, the Russian Space Agency could keep the venerable space station aloft for two more years, barring further problems.
· 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:
- 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
- Mir crew prepares for risky spacewalk - 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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