Mir spacewalk delayed

U.S. astronaut may replace Russian on repair job

Latest developments:

• 10-day delay possible
• Saturday spacewalk had been planned
• Fatigue may have caused irregularities
• Related stories and sites

July 15, 1997
Web posted at: 11:48 a.m. EDT (1548 GMT)

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Critical repairs on the Russian space station Mir have been postponed while doctors evaluate Mir commander Vasily Tsibliyev's heart condition, officials from Russian Mission Control said Tuesday.

Russian space officials have asked NASA to allow American astronaut Michael Foale, the third Mir crew member, to replace Tsibliyev in the repair mission if the Russian is not well enough.

Officials at NASA Mission Control in Houston met Tuesday to discuss the request.

Tsibliyev complained of heart problems in a conversation Monday. Doctors said he was suffering minor heart irregularities but that his condition did not appear too serious.

The head of Russian Mission Control, Vladimir Solovyev, said his agency will announce the new date for the spacewalk Wednesday at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. EDT). A training session scheduled for Tuesday also was delayed.

10-day delay possible

Mission doctor Igor Goncharov said Tuesday that the repairs could be delayed by 10 days.

Doctors would recommend a course of treatment for Tsibliyev that would last "at best" 10 days. If Foale takes the cosmonaut's place, he would need a similar period to train for the risky and complex job, Goncharov told reporters.

The Russian space agency wants to complete Mir repairs before a new crew is due to take over on August 5, Solovyev said.

Solovyev said he hoped that Tsibliyev and fellow cosmonaut Alexander Lazutkin would be able to carry out the repairs once they get some rest.

However, the new Mir crew was practicing the same repairs Tuesday in spacesuits in a giant water tank at a Russian training center. Officials said they were practicing for two reasons -- to advise the current Mir crew, and to gain experience in case they must do the repairs themselves.

Saturday spacewalk had been planned

A supply ship ran into Mir during a practice docking session last month, puncturing the station's Spektr module. The crew disconnected power cables running from Spektr to the ship and sealed the Spektr hatch.

In doing so, they cut off power to much of the ship's operations. The crew's two Russian cosmonauts had hoped to reconnect those power cables in a special internal spacewalk this Saturday.

But while Tsibliyev and Lazutkin were exercising Monday in preparation for the mission, doctors detected a minor deviation in Tsibliyev's heartbeat. The commander also complained of heart problems Monday.

"For crying out loud!" Tsibliyev exclaimed after reporting his symptoms Monday. "This is bad timing."

"You have to calm down!" a doctor from Mission Control told him repeatedly, urging the Mir commander to get more sleep.

"Will I be able to make the trip?" Tsibliyev asked, referring to the repair mission.

"Let us think and see," the doctor replied.

Fatigue may have caused irregularities

The spacewalk will require "reserves of endurance," said Deputy Flight Director Viktor Blagov, and Mission Control is paying scrupulous attention to any changes in the crew's health.

Blagov told the Russian news agency Interfax the crew has been working extremely hard in recent days and that fatigue may have brought on Tsibliyev's heart irregularities.

Two people are needed for the repairs. Philip Engelauf, the space shuttle flight director for NASA, said Foale was under consideration to take Tsibliyev's role, but that no decision had been made.

Foale is currently slated to man Mir's escape ship during the operation in case the crew needs to make a quick getaway.

Engelauf said Foale is qualified to participate in the spacewalk and has conducted a spacewalk before. Foale has been told he does not have to take Tsibliyev's role.

National Correspondent John Holliman and Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty contributed to this report.  

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• Mir, cargo ship successfully dock - July 7, 1997
• NASA: No more astronauts on Mir until it is safe, productive - July 6, 1997
• Mir crew fixes gyroscopes, prepares for Monday docking - July 6, 1997
• Supply ship blasts off toward Mir - July 5, 1997
• Crucial Mir repairs delayed - July 4, 1997
• How Mir's gyrodynes work - July 3, 1997

Related sites:

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• NASA Shuttle-Mir Web
  information about the Mir Space station is provided by NASA
  • Spektr - section of the space station that was hit
• MIR Space Station - Radio Transmit Info
  includes information about how to transmit and receive communications with MIR through amateur radio
• ISS Phase I - Space Station Mir
  contains graphics and specifications of the diferent areas of MIR
• Russian Space Agency
  homepage of the Russian Space Agency through the NASA site
  • Pictures and Movies
    contains pictures of MIR and MIR missions as released by the Russian Space Agency

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