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Mir, cargo ship successfully dock

Mir

Unloading of new parts delayed

July 7, 1997
Web posted at: 5:57 p.m. EDT (2157 GMT)

Latest developments:

MOSCOW (CNN) -- The battered Mir space station successfully docked early Monday with a cargo ship hauling custom-made repair parts needed to bring the spacecraft back to full power.

Already, conditions aboard the craft are improving for the two Russian cosmonauts and astronaut Michael Foale. "I believe we've passed the survival phase where the crew is back in relatively stable operations, able to exercise, able to maintain the environment," Frank Culbertson, Mir-shuttle project manager, told reporters in a Monday afternoon conference.

"Now we're back in the recovery phase of how much can we get back out of this station's capability and where can we go from here... I don't believe we'll have any trouble continuing until the shuttle goes up to get him [Foale}."

vxtreme NASA press conference

But the unloading process, which is expected to take at least two days, will not begin until 1 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, NASA official Ed Pritchard told CNN.

Normally, the Mir's crew can open the hatch to a cargo ship within an hour or two of the time it docks. But Russian officials said the unloading was being delayed because the astronauts were working on replenishing power supplies and would then get some sleep.

"It's a process that needs to be done carefully," Culbertson said.

At mission control just outside Moscow, flight controllers watched on a giant television screen as Mir and the cargo ship approached each other high above Siberia.

The controllers applauded and congratulated each other when the Mir and the cargo ship linked up smoothly at 10 a.m. Moscow time (2 a.m. EDT).

'Interesting mission for Wendy'

Culbertson also expressed optimism about the prospect of sending American astronaut Wendy Lawrence to Mir in September, as originally planned.

"It's going to be an interesting mission for Wendy ahead," Culbertson said.

Although he issued no official word on whether the mission will go forward, Culbertson's comments appeared to contradict those of NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin, who said Sunday that NASA will not send up another astronaut until Mir is determined to be safe.

"We must have a productive set of data because just sending someone to sit on the Mir station would not be appropriate," Goldin said Sunday.

Supply vessel carries food, repair gear

After 11 years in space, Mir has docked with 78 cargo ships, and it's normally a routine affair. But Monday's rendezvous attracted special attention since it was the first docking since a similar craft rammed into Mir on June 25, endangering the lives of those on board.

The Russian cargo ship, Progress M-35, carried 880 pounds (400 kilograms) of cables, food, water, oxygen, fuel and other supplies which will be used for a repair mission scheduled for July 17 or 18.

Monday's docking was done automatically, in contrast to the June 25 accident which occurred while the crew was attempting to dock manually. Since then, Mir has been running on reduced power and the Spektr module has been sealed off from the rest of the spacecraft.

The top priority will now be to reattach cables connecting the Spektr's solar batteries to the Mir's main power system.

On Sunday, the crew aboard Russian space station Mir fixed the gyroscopes that orient the spacecraft toward the sun. The project left the three astronauts with little time to rest before making the final preparations for Monday's docking.

Officials at Russian mission control said the gyroscopes, called gyrodynes, were functioning properly and remained stable. The system orients Mir so its solar panels can soak up the sun's energy.

Mir

Without the gyrodynes, Mir has to fire its thrusters periodically to reorient itself. The repaired gyroscopes will make it easier for the crew of two Russians and one American to carry out a complex mission to restore Mir's energy supply to normal.

Since the June 25 collision, the aging space station has been running on reduced power.

Mysterious leak from Spektr confirmed

The gyroscope repair followed the latest bout of trouble aboard Mir, which happened Tuesday but was disclosed only Saturday when Russian and NASA officials confirmed there had been a mysterious leak from the punctured Spektr module.

"Five days ago, in one of our communications with the crew, we were told they had seen flakes and bubbles from an unknown source leaking from the Spektr module," a Russian specialist said. He added it was not fuel.

The leak had been into space, and there had been no repeat since that single incident.

It highlighted the dangers facing the crew when commander Vasily Tsibliev and engineer Alexander Lazutkin plan to enter the crippled Spektr module in their spacesuits to reconnect electrical cables and restore some power lost after the collision.

Foale is to sit out the repair inside the station's Soyuz emergency escape ship.

"We are very concerned about what was in that module, what might have ruptured, and what the impact might be on the suited crew members," Culbertson said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.  

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