On 19.02.1998, just after the return of the relieved crew and Eyharts to earth the new crew reported a malfunction of the separation system of the SRV-U (the system to regenerate water out of urine). In co-ordination with an expert on earth Budarin coped with this unpleasant repair job.

Redocking of Soyuz-TM27 from aft to forward port:

This operation took place on 20.02.1998 between 0847 and 0932 UTC during a window in which the Soyuz-TM27 via Mir could communicate with TsUP via Altair-2. Musabayev steered the Soyuz-TM27. In fact this was not a flight around the Mir-complex but after the undocking of Soyuz-TM27 at 08.47.45 UTC Musabayev brought his ship in a safe station keeping distance from the complex. He reported the distances in meters. The maximum distance was reported approx. 60 meters. As soon as Soyuz-TM27 was far enough from Mir the complex executed a rotation of 180 degrees in the horizontal plane (Z-axis).

In this way the aft docking port turned away and Soyuz-TM27 came in a position right in front of the forward (-X-axis, transition section) port. This meant just a minimal fuel consumption for Soyuz-TM27. Regretfully something went wrong with the communications. From the outset there was a very stable link via Altair-2, but this ceased at 09.06.10 UTC. At that moment Mir and Soyuz-TM27 were not yet in range of Russian tracking stations and so the crew and TsUP were unable to contact each other. The window for the use of Altair-2 was open until 0933 UTC. The communications via Altair-2 were not restored before 0933 UTC and so later on they had to use 121.750 mc for direct contact with Russian tracking stations.

Here they also encountered problems. For the crew an unpleasant experience. The official statement spoke about the fact that there had been something wrong with the relay between Mir and Altair-2. Probably wrong commands for the transmitter selection played a role. At 0932 UTC Musabayev manually accomplished the soft touch. This touch was so smooth that a surprised Andy Thomas was still waiting for the 'bump' when the docking had already taken place. After returning on board Mir they met other problems: the crew had to work on the life support systems. They switched on the Elektron oxygen generators in Module D as well as in Module-E (Kvant-1). There were problems with a Vozdukh CO2 scrubber, a pressure meter in the Kvant-1 and an air pressure equalisation valve in the transition section (P.Kh.O.).

Progress-M37 (fingers crossed please!):

The redocking of this freighter at the aft docking port is scheduled for 23.02.1998 at about 0930 UTC. On 21.02.1998 the crew started tests of the TORU, the system to guide Progress-M37 manually from inside Mir. It is not clear yet with the TORU system or that TORU will only be standing by in case the automatic KURS-system fails . Budarin spoke about a number of 'insignificant anomalies'. He asked for better instructions for the camerawork during the planned operation. In his opinion good video recordings are essential and he referred to the problems Tsibliyev and Lazutkin had. Due to the insufficient recordings it had been easier to blame them for that what happened last June.

Whatever the method for the approach will be: the automatic or manual mode it will be an exciting event. During the estimated docking time Mir and Progress-M37 are in my range and there is also a window via Altair-2. And believe me: I will be alert!!

Progress-M37 23 February 1998

Progress-M37 flawlessly docked at the aft docking port (+X axis Kvant-1) at 09.43.27 UTC. Approach and docking were executed in the automatic mode by the system Kurs. Before the final phase of the approach Musabayev extensively tested the TORU system. At 09.04.30 UTC he reported that he switched off the TORU system and that the result of the test was positive. Opening of the hatch is scheduled for 1020 - 1030 UTC. More details in my next MirNEWS-report.

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