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| S P E C I A L | Repairing Mir |
Russians plan another docking attempt
Spacewalk could be delayed
August 18, 1997
Web posted at: 4:26 a.m. EDT (0826 GMT)MOSCOW (CNN) -- Russian officials plan to try again Monday to redock a cargo craft with the damaged Mir space station after a computer error delayed the first attempt Sunday, a Mission Control duty officer said.
The second attempt is due to take place a 8:57 a.m. EDT (12:57 GMT), the officer said.
A software problem forced space officials to postpone a docking of the unmanned cargo ship with Mir on Sunday. Officials said there was no immediate threat to the lives of the two Russians and one American aboard Mir.
The Progress cargo ship is the same type that slammed into the space station in June in the worst accident in Mir's 11-year history.
Animation of cargo ship crashing into Mir
298 K/10 sec. QuickTime movie
In another development, CNN has learned that Sunday's postponement threatens to delay a crucial spacewalk slated for Wednesday to restore most of Mir's power. Since the June accident, the space station has operated on about half-power.
Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov said a program for an automatic docking was "put in incorrectly into the Progress' computer."
"It has nothing to do with the Mir itself," Solovyov told reporters. "What has happened was a purely technical matter. This mistake is easy to correct."
Valery Udaloi, press secretary for Russian Mission Control, said the computer aboard Progress picked up on the incorrect command and shut itself off. New commands now have to be resent, Udaloi said.
In the United States, NASA officials called the malfunction a minor problem and said additional command testing was planned for later Sunday.
In June, a docking with another Progress cargo ship ended in disaster when the cargo ship punctured the space station, leaking oxygen into space and forcing the crew to shut off parts of Mir.
The new Progress cargo ship, which brought supplies to Mir in July, had been disconnected from the station to make room for a Soyuz capsule carrying in the new crew. It has been flying near the Mir in a synchronous orbit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
· MIR MAIN PAGE · RELATED SITES · HISTORY ·
· TIMELINE · GALLERY · SOYUZ · CREW · REPAIR MISSION ·
Related stories:
- Mir cosmonauts lash out at critics, including Yeltsin - August 16, 1997
- Mir-go-round mission completed - August 15, 1997
- Mir cosmonauts prepare to return home - August 13, 1997
- Tough spacewalks, repairs await new Mir crew - August 8, 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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