Mir commander declared unfit for repairs
American astronaut may make spacewalk

July 16, 1997
Web posted at: 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT) 

 MOSCOW (CNN) -- The
commander of the Mir is unfit to
repair the crippled Russian space
station and NASA has tentatively
agreed to have his American crewmate
train for the crucial mission, Russian
officials said Wednesday. 

But NASA gave conflicting accounts
as to whether an agreement had been
reached to let U.S. astronaut Michael
Foale begin preparing for the mission. 

Foale is being considered for the repair mission because commander Vasily
Tsibliyev is suffering from an irregular heartbeat and has been declared unfit for the
much-needed repairs. 

"We have tentatively agreed that the American astronaut and the Russian flight
engineer (Alexander Lazutkin) will have a practice run on Monday, July 21," said
Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov. "Then, we'll make a final
decision with our NASA colleagues on whether to carry out the spacewalk." 

He added, "Without a doubt, the American astronaut agreed. It was clear that the
proposition delighted him." 

Repairs designed to restore full power to the Mir, a mission twice delayed, are
scheduled to begin July 24. 

NASA sends conflicting message 

However, NASA officials in Moscow and at the Johnson Space Center in Houston
said they had not yet assented to Foale taking part and were still evaluating what
would be expected of him. 

For now, NASA spokeswoman Catherine Watson said in Moscow, "He can do
some basic things, but no official simulations or the actual spacewalk -- none of
that's been approved by NASA yet." 

Earlier Wednesday, another NASA spokeswoman in Russia, Kathleen Maliga,
confirmed Solovyov's account. There was no explanation for the discrepancy. 

Foale began making routine preparations Wednesday, which included checking his
spacesuit and studying documents, Solovyov said. 

Medical condition hampers cosmonaut 

Lazutkin and Tsibliyev, the two Russian cosmonauts on Mir, were to carry out
repairs this weekend to return the spacecraft to full power after a June 25 collision
with a cargo ship. 

But Tsibliyev's irregular heartbeat forced Russian officials to reconsider his role and
delay the mission. 

"As the commander has medical problems, we have decided that he shouldn't take
part in the trip into the Spektr," Solovyov said. The repair work should take about
four to five hours. 

The task requires two of the three Mir crew members to put on pressurized
spacesuits and reattach disconnected power cables in the station's Spektr module,
which lost pressure in the collision. 

The plan now is for the other Russian cosmonaut, Lazutkin, to go into the Spektr
module and for Foale to deal with the cables and a new hatch, according to Russian
officials. 

The third crew member is to be in the Soyuz escape capsule, ready to make a
getaway should anything go awry during the repairs. Foale was to assume that role
before Tsibliyev's heart problem was detected. 

NASA mulls decision

NASA officials told CNN that if the two sides can come to an agreement Thursday,
then Foale would begin unsuited rehearsals for the spacewalk, possibly later
Thursday. If he is successful in the unsuited practice runs, he would be allowed to
conduct the rehearsal wearing the spacesuit as early as Monday, officials said. 


NASA Mir program manager Frank Culbertson said he is spending most
of his time on the phone with his Russian space agency colleague, 
Vallery Ryumin, discussing the pros and cons of allowing Foale to 
conduct the spacewalk. 

The pros include the fact that he's there, he's trained in the Russian
spacesuit and the Mir commander is not physically up to conducting the
walk. 

The cons are that Foale's last spacesuit training was in November 1996 in a
water tank in Russia and that there is very little time for him to prepare for
the walk. Foale has indicated he wants to do the walk if he can be trained in time. 

Despite Mir's recent problems, both the Russians and the Americans say it remains
safe and the crew is in no danger. Russia is determined to press ahead with
additional Mir missions until 1999. 

The Russians are eager to solve the problem before the next crew arrives August 5.
Cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov spent three hours Tuesday in
a giant pool at Star City, near Moscow, also training to do the repairs -- just in case
of further delays.