Oxygen generators aboard Mir break down

Rescue mission to be launched Tuesday

August 5, 1997
Web posted at: 6:56 a.m. EDT (1056 GMT) 

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Two oxygen generators aboard the stricken Russian space
station Mir broke down Tuesday, only hours before a repair mission was to blast off
from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakstan. However, the Russian Interfax news
agency said there was no immediate threat to the three-member crew on board Mir. 

Interfax quoted Russian ground control as saying that the crew was now using
special oxygen canisters. Ground control said the crew was not facing an emergency
situation since there were enough canisters to last for a minimum two months. 

The latest technical failure came as the two new Russian cosmonauts prepared for
Tuesday's liftoff. 

Flight commander Anatoly Solovyov, 49, and flight engineer Pavel Vinogradov, 43,
passed their final health check Monday, clearing the final hurdle for an urgent
mission. They are to lift off in a Soyuz-TM-26 space capsule mounted on a 300-ton
booster rocket and dock with the Mir on Thursday. 

                                                                            
CNN's John Holliman reports -
Replacement cosmonaut team
prepares for trip to Mir 


The station has been operating at about half its normal power supply since June 25
when a supply ship being used for docking practice crashed, punching a hole in the
Spektr module and damaging one of the solar panels. 

The three-man crew aboard Mir -- cosmonauts Alexander Lazutkin and Vasily
Tsibliyev and U.S. astronaut Michael Foale -- managed to close the door to Spektr,
which saved their lives but cut off the main source of electricity for the station. 

It was decided not to have Lazutkin and Tsibliyev make the repairs when it was
discovered that the latter had an irregular heartbeat, and the former was suffering
from exhaustion. 

Holes in hull must be patched

Foale offered to make repairs, but the
Russians decided to send Solovyov and
Vinogradov to do the work. They are
expected to make six spacewalks of more
than nine hours each, and to make repairs
inside and outside the module. 

The repairs will include patching holes in
Spektr's hull, an operation that will require a
preliminary walk to inspect the damage and
at least two more to fix it. 

Solovyov and Vinogradov are also taking
with them a replacement hatch for the Spektr module which will allow electricity
from Spektr's solar panels to flow into the rest of the space station, much of which is
now without power. 

The new door, unlike the current one, has hermetic connections for the power cables
from Spektr's three functioning solar panels. 

Although it sounds easy enough, replacing the hatch involves an element of danger.
Vinogradov will be wearing a 300-pound spacesuit, and there is some concern that
there may be debris or dangerous chemicals floating behind the door. If his suit is
punctured when he opens the door, he could die swiftly. 

Astronaut continues to train

The solar panel damaged in the crash is not
among the things expected to be repaired. 

Mir's problems have caused the Russians
and the Americans to make major changes
in who they send into space. 

A French cosmonaut was scheduled to
make the trip, but he had to give way to a
second cosmonaut who had been trained in
making repairs. 

U.S. astronaut Wendy Lawrence was to
replace Foale in the space station in September when the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis
pays a visit. But the 5-foot-3 Lawrence is too small for the Russian space suit she
would have to wear should she be needed to go into space to make repairs. 

She will continue to train with her replacement, Dr. David Wolf, at Star City, the
Russian training center, and will accompany him on the shuttle as his backup.
Should illness or injury befall Wolf, Lawrence would remain on the Mir and
participate in scientific experiments, but make no spacewalks. 

Correspondent John Holliman contributed to this report.