The EVA began on 10.11.98 at 1924 UTC (opening hatch) and finished on 11.11.98 at 0118 UTC (closing exit hatch of Module-D). All went well. During this EVA the cosmonauts had to accomplish 17 tasks: the launch of the mini-sputnik Spoutnik-41, (which they immediately did when they entered open space) the instalment of a number of experiments and the retrieval of mainly Russian experiments. Among the installed experiments was a French one, a so called 'meteorite trap' to catch fragments which are expected to pass in a few days. These will come from the dust cloud behind the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The name of the meteorite rain is Leonids.

Radio traffic:

During the first pass of the Mir-complex in orbit 72708, on 10.11 at 2353 until 11.11 at 0001 UTC the cosmonauts were still in open space. They were about to return to the exit hatch. During the 2nd pass in orb. 72709, 11.11 from 0127-0139 UTC, Padalka and Avdeyev were in the airlock of Module-D. They switched their spacesuits over from the autonomous regime to that of the on-board systems.

During the next pass (orb. 72710, 0302-0314 UTC) they worked in the neighbouring compartment, the P.N.O. , the Instrument and scientific compartment, to return to the inside of the complex. For Padalka this was the first 'real' EVA. He already made an IVA, an internal EVA inside the Spektr module. Spoutnik-41 (or; RS-18): Immediately after entering open space the crew launched this little radio-amateur satellite. During all passes of the Mir-station the signals of that satellite could be monitored via 145.815 mc. The signals were bleeps (duration approx. 5 seconds), some c/w carrier tones, and short statements spoken by young people in French, English and Russian. Sp-41 is flying a little bit ahead of Mir and gradually the distance will increase.

The Leonids:

During the Leonids (the dust cloud behind the comet Tempel-Tuttle) in the period around 17.11.1998 the cosmonauts will hide in the Soyuz-TM28 during periods in which this might be dangerous. The highest intensity is expected on 17.11.98 at 1943 UTC. In the Soyuz-TM28 the cosmonauts are protected against the incoming fragments by the whole axial length of the complex (the Base Block, the module Kvant-1 and the Progress-M40). They also have the radial positioned modules Kvant-2, Kristall, Priroda and Spektr as extra umbrellas. During their stay in the Soyuz-TM28 they might use the 121.750 mc to report observations and, as in the past befell for instance during some Perseid rains, eventual 'hits'.

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