This EVA passed of successfully and without problems. Tsibliyev and Linenger opened the hatch of the airlock of Kvant-2 on 29.04.1997 at 0510 UTC and closed this after the EVA at 10.08.30 UTC. Duration: 4 hrs 57 mins and 10 secs. The cause of the slight delay is still unknown. The fact that the EVA lasted much shorter than the planned 5 hrs 30 mins was no indication that they had been forced to return earlier but they just accomplished their tasks well within the duration which had been foreseen. These tasks consisted of the installation of the OPM (Optical Properties Monitor) at the outer surface of the SO (docking compartment at the Kristall module). Having this done they moved by the crane Strela to the Kvant-2 where they retrieved the American experiments PIE (Partial Impact Experiment) and the MSE (Mir Sample Experiment). These experiments will be brought back to earth by the Atlantis in May this year. The last task was the installation on Kvant-2 of the Benton Radiation Dosimeter. This instrument will measure the intensity of the radiation between 51.6 dgs North and 51.6 dgs South. The areas between these latitudes will be covered by the IRS, which will orbit in the same inclination (51.6 dgs) as Mir. During the first pass for our location in orbit 63941 (0958- 1010 UTC) the EVA was in its final phase. The both 'space-walkers' already were in the airlock, which they had entered at 0930 UTC. During radio windows they worked with tranquillising music in the background. Radio traffic revealed that Tsibliyev and Linenger had a lot of fun and acted fully relaxed. The EVA was successful and they did not meet any problems. The new type of the Orlan DMA spacesuit was used for the first time and during the pass in orbit 63942 (1133-1145 UTC) Tsibliyev reported his satisfaction about the improvements. He told that his good experience with this spacesuit during training in the hydrolab now has been proven in practice. The suit is very flexible, and especially the gloves are very good: it is much easier to use your fingers. And Tsibliyev has the right to judge this for he did 5 EVA's during his mission in 1993. During the EVA Lazutkin remained on board where he watched the systems, made films of his colleagues, helped them with advice and communications. If the present good luck of the Mir exploration will not vanish Lazutkin will do 2 EVA's together with Tsibliyev during this Mir 23d Main expedition.

Admiration: All those responsible for the achievements of today: the crew, but also the flight control and consultative groups in Korolyov and Houston deserve our admiration for the way in which they showed their skill and this example of excellent international co-operation. They had the courage to execute this difficult operation just a week after a long period in which the operational life of the Mir space station was hanging by a thread. Let us entrust the work on future space flight projects in their hands!

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