This ship with the crew for the 23d Main Expedition (M.E.) to Mir, Tsibliyev and Lazutkin, and German's Mir'97 astronaut Reinhold Ewald is on schedule for launch from Baykonur on 10.02.1997 at 1408 UTC. The call signs of this crew are Sirius-1, 2 and 3. If all goes according to plan Soyuz-TM25 will dock at Mir on 12.02.1997 at abt 1553 UTC. Ewald will stay on board for 18 days and return to Earth with the relieved crew of the 22d M.E., Korzun and Kaleri. During the Mir'97 mission DLR's GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen will be able to communicate directly with Mir via VHF-channels, but possibly also via the quasi-stationary Cosmos-2054 (Altair-1) over 16 degrees W.L. On 4 and 5.12.1996 GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen tested communications via Altair-1 and meanwhile the intention to use this possibility during Mir'97 and future Euromir missions has been officially confirmed.

Mir-routine: The American astronaut Linenger started with his experimental programs. He is very pleased to be on board Mir and had less problems as his countrymen during previous flights in finding things for his work. Of course he did not found all he needs, but obviously the experience of his predecessors led to improvements in that field. He emphasised

Hij legt by zijn experimenten erg de nadruk op lichamelijke oefeningen, waarbij hij zich behoorlijk inspant. De samenwerking met zijn Russische collega's is uitstekend. Linenger is ook goed ingewerkt door zijn voorganger Blaha. Voor wat betreft zijn werkplanning en de manier, waarop de resultaten van zijn experimenten de geleerden op aarde moeten bereiken, heeft hij aan de Amerikaanse consultatieve groep op het TsUP by Moskou een aantal voorstellen gedaan.

Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.