| Mir EO-24 | |||||
5 August 1997 15:36 GMT. Landing Date: 1998-02-19 09:10:00. Flight Time: 197.73 days. Alternate Name: Soyuz TM-26. Flight Up: Soyuz TM-26. Flight Back: Soyuz TM-26. Call Sign: Rodnik. Crew: Solovyov, Vinogradov. Backup Crew: Padalka, Avdeyev. Program: Mir. Mir Expedition EO-24. The Soyuz docked manually at 17:02 GMT August 7. Over the next six months the crew undertook seven internal and external spacewalks to repair the crippled space station. Solovyov and Vinogradov together with French astronaut Eyharts (launched aboard Soyuz TM-27) undocked from the forward port on Mir at 05:52 GMT on February 19, 1998, fired their deorbit engines at 08:16 GMT and landed in Kazakstan at 50 deg 11 N, 67 deg 31 E at 09:10 GMT. On Aug 6, after initial maneuvers, Soyuz TM-26 was in a 241 x 279 km x 51.6 deg orbit vs Mir's 386 x 392 km x 51.6 deg orbit. Progress M-35 undocked from Mir at 11:46 GMT to clear the aft Kvant docking port. The Soyuz docked manually at 17:02 GMT August 7 (the automatic system was capable but the pilot gets a cash bonus for a successful manual docking). Soyuz TM-25 remained at the front docking port. Following the departure of Soyuz TM-25, Soyuz TM-26 with the crew aboard undocked from the Kvant module at August 15 at 13:29 GMT, and redocked with the forward Mir port at 14:13 GMT. The Progress M-35 cargo ship was to redock with the Mir station at the Kvant port. The first docking attempt was called off on August 17 because wrong instructions were sent to the Progress. Meanwhile, the crew repaired the Elektron oxygen generator. Progress M-35 successfully redocked with Mir at 12:53 GMT on August 18. The Mir computer crashed just before the docking, and the station drifted out of attitude, causing the Progress automatic docking system to shut down; however, commander Solovyov completed the docking by manual remote control. The computer was repaired by August 19. Solovyov and Vinogradov began their internal spacewalk to repair the breached Spektr module on Aug 22. Vinogradov worked inside the Spektr module while Solovyov helped him from the transfer compartment (perekhodniy ostek), the central node where all the big modules and the Soyuz transport craft are docked. Foale spent the spacewalk in the descent craft of the Soyuz, with the two hatches of the Soyuz habitation module between him and the depressurized transfer node. Depressurization of the transfer node was begun at 09:59 GMT, but when a leak in Vinogradov's glove was found a repressurization was ordered. He swapped the glove for a spare, following depressurization, the hatch to Spektr was opened at 11:14 GMT. By 13:00 GMT the cables had been connected to the hatch and Vinogradov began unsuccessfully searching for the hull puncture. By 14:00 GMT he was out of the module and work to seal the hatch was underway. Repressurization was completed at 15:03 GMT. Problems with Mir's primary and backup oxygen systems were quickly fixed on August 25. Power from Spektr and Kristall's solar panels resumed, but problems keeping the panels oriented towards the sun continued. Solovyov and Foale failed to locate any punctures in Spektr during an otherwise successful spacewalk on September 6. The hatch of the Kvant-2 module was opened at 01:07 GMT and closed at 07:07 GMT. The spacewalkers used the Strela crane to transfer from the Kvant-2 to Spektr. Solovyov cut away insulation to inspect the area around the radiator and solar panel mounting. The Mir crew moved briefly to the Soyuz transport on September 15 during a 500 m pass by the inert MSTI-2 satellite (a US SDIO satellite which operated between May and September 1994 testing infrared missile launch trackers). An attempt to undock Progress M-35 from the Kvant module on October 5 failed when a clamp was inadvertently left attaching Progress M-35 to Kvant. After clearing the problem Progress M-35 successfully undocked at 12:03 GMT on October 7. Solovyov and Vinogradov carried out a 6h38min internal spacewalk on October 20, during which they worked inside the depressurized Mir base block transfer compartment and the damaged Spektr module to connect new cables to the Spektr module, restoring the capability to point the Spektr solar arrays. NASA astronaut David Wolf remained inside the station. During an EVA on November 3 the Mir crew removed an old solar panel from Kvant. The solar panel was retracted on command, removed from the Kvant module, and stowed on the exterior of the core module. The outer Kvant-2 hatch did not seal correctly after the EVA, and the inner hatch was used to seal the station. The Sputnik-40 1/3-scale model of PS-1 ("Sputnik" ) was hand-launched during the EVA into a 383 x 391 km x 51.6 deg orbit.. Solovyov and Vinogradov carried out another EVA on November 6, with hatch open at 00:12 GMT and close at 06:29 GMT. The Kvant-2 interior compartment was used as the airlock. The Russian MSB-SO solar array, which has been stored on the outside of the SO module since its delivery to the station by Atlantis on mission STS-74 was installed on the Kvant module replacing the elderly MSB-4. The Kvant-2 airlock hatch was thought to be sealed after the EVA, but the ShSO (Airlock special compartment) of Kvant 2 was still leaking. The PNO (Instrument-science compartment), the next room in, continued to be used as the airlock until a new outer hatch seal could be delivered by the next Progress cargo ship. Progress M-36 undocked from Mir on December 17 at 06:02 GMT and flew out to a range of 700 m. The X-Mir Inspector miniature satellite, built by Daimler-Benz Aerospace, was deployed at 07:35 to take pictures of Mir, but its navigation system failed and it drifted away from the station. Progress M-37, launched on December 20, brought new supplies to the station, including the seal to repair the outer Kvant 2 airlock hatch. Solovyov and Vinogradov made a 3h 6min spacewalk on January 9 to recover some equipment and begin repairs to the leaking Kvant-2 airlock hatch; they found a bolt on the hatch was not tight, causing a 10-mm gap. Following the repair the hatch was still leaking slightly. Solovyov and Wolf made a 3-hour EVA on January 14 to inspect the station exterior. Despite problems with his Sokol emergency spacesuit, Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as the US Mir crew member on January 25. Shortly before Endeavour's undocking with Wolf aboard, Soyuz TM-27 was launched carrying a new Mir crew, including French astronaut Leopold Eyharts. Solovyov and Vinogradov together with Eyharts undocked from the -X port on Mir at 05:52 GMT on Feb 19 aboard Soyuz TM-26. The spacecraft fired its deorbit engines at 08:16 GMT and the craft landed in Kazakhstan at 50 11N, 67 31E at 09:10 GMT. Mir EO-24 Chronology
Bibliography and Further Reading
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