Although one of the great strengths of Russia and performed regulary by the Proton supply ships, cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri are capable of performing a manual docking of Soyuz and Mir.
Although one of the great strengths of Russia and performed regulary by the Proton supply ships, cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri are capable of performing a manual docking of Soyuz and Mir. |
In an earlier report by the Russian news agency TASS, Mission Controls officials said the cosmonauts would need to perform several difficult technical operations soon after the docking is completed.
"At first they will have to open transfer hatches, making sure that the butt joint is air-tight. Then they will move to the working module and switch on the equipment for air disinfection. After that, the two cosmonauts will check the docking assembly," reported TASS in a report issued Wednesday.
According to MirCorp officials who are partly funding this mission it is unclear what is awaiting the Russian cosmonauts on board Mir, which has been unmanned since August last years.
Mission control officials were reported by TASS as saying that preliminary telemetric data showed the station to be in fair condition. But only an onsite inspection by Zalyotin and Kaleri would be be able to determine the feasibility of bringing Mir back online as a privately funded operation.
SPACE TRAVEL
MirCorp Is Not A
'Flash In The Pan'
by Andrew Eddy at Mission Control
Moscow - April 6, 2000 - With the historic docking of Soyuz and its two cosmonauts to Mir only hours away, Andrew Eddy, MirCorp Senior Vice President of Business Development, took a moment from his activities in Moscow to review the company’s near- and medium-term business prospects.
SPACE.WIRE |