NASA MIR PROGRAM

Mir 23 / NASA 5 Status

Date: Sunday, June 29, 1997

Mission Day: Mir 23 / NASA 5 MD 140/45

Mir 23 CDR Vasili Tsibliev

Mir 23 FE Alexander Lazutkin

NASA 5 FE Mike Foale

OPERATIONS

Mike's Press Release from 6/28

"Since the collision of the Progress spacecraft with the Space Station on Wednesday, at that time I was about to take measurements of the range and the speed of the Progress out of the Kvant window which is where the Progress was about to dock. At that time I was passing through the base block of the station when Sasha, the flight engineer, told me to quickly move to the Soyuz spacecraft because he was the one who saw, imminently, the Progress was about to hit Spektr. As I was passing through into the node which connects to the Soyuz spacecraft, I heard a big thump, a thud, and Sasha who was anchored to the floor at that time felt a big jolt throughout the station. Almost immediately, we heard a hiss and felt the pressure falling in our ears. We knew that we hadand also the alarm in the space station went off telling us we had a depressurization of the station. I watched to see if Sasha.they were not coming quickly to the spacecraft. I could tell from the feeling in my ears that the leak rate was not incredibly high so that we had to immediately get into the Soyuz. So then I watched Sasha sort of, he knew where the leak was and knew it was in Spektr and was rapidly trying to dismantle the cables. Those were rather exciting moments. Certainly got my attention.

We have then been dealing with all of the problems from that and the first of those was that we lost motion control of the station. And after that, we as a result of a loss of control of the Space Station, lost a lot of power because the solar arrays were not pointing towards the sun. Most of what I've been doing for the last two or three days since the collision, with the other crew members, is basically in the dark with flashlights in our mouths, floating around in a perfectly quiet spacecraft without any engines running, moving batteries from one module to another so we can charge up the station as effectively as we could using the solar arrays that were not effectively pointing towards the sun. Slowly, slowly we've got things backs together. The station now has a good power supply in the base block. The most important part of the stations we can get to is the D module, Kvant II, where the toilet is, that we got running about 30 hours after the collision. So even today, even as I speak, we're getting back to a posture where we can start doing things. I've turned on the experiment where I've been growing plants, called the Greenhouse. And those seeds and pods are getting pretty ripe, ready to be harvested, and we just re-established power to it. They were without power for about two days.

Other things I've been doing since then is basically trying to fix things. We've been moving a lot of equipment around, getting ready for repairs. Right now we're establishing the older Elektron in the Kvant module to produce oxygen to relieve the load on the Kvant II module where it's struggling to keep the gyrodynes, that control the station's attitude, in shape.

The biggest picture about this is we did lose a module, the Spektr module. Power may be restored to that module in the next few months. A lot of American life science equipment was left in that module along with my personal effects. Since then, I've managed to find myself a toothbrush and toothpaste, clothes, and even a pair of shoes to run with. So life is getting back to normal for me, as far as everyday living.

I'm looking forward to doing the major experiments that are now left for me to do in the Priroda module, the creation of gels in space, and the continuation of Greenhouse. Two more generations, I'm actually growing the seeds we are producing now that will be planted in a few weeks to see if we get plants out of those. Other than that, let's hope things get back together again and normal as soon as possible."

EXPERIMENT OPERATIONS

Greenhouse

BC1 40

BC2 45

P06 37

P07 44

Today, Mike was told to power on the Greenhouse light for four hours in the auto mode. Depending on telemetry data, Mike may be told to leave the lights on for longer.

Experiment Hardware

Beetle - Mike was asked to move Beetle to the Base Block. Mike responded that he had already talked to Vasili about it and would rather move it to Krystall and power it with the Y-adapter previously used to power the TEFs. MOST is investigating if Beetle can be powered with this cable.

Greenhouse - Mike informed the TsUP today that the Greenhouse adapter used on the F2 camera is in Spektr. He doesn't have an adapter for the F3 and will have to improvise.

SMP/Medical - Nothing new to report.

Public Affairs

Just before 1 p.m. (DMT) today, Mike and the rest of the Mir crew were interviewed by Russian reporters at MCC-M. The press conference, which included video downlink from the crew, was later re-transmitted to JSC for replay on NASA TV. The press conference was replayed on NASA TV just before Frank Culbertson's daily Mir status briefing.

Media call-ins to the TsUP were minimal today, though U.S. media have expressed an interest in speaking with the crew real-time. Though media interest has slowed somewhat at the TsUP, it will peak again right before the Progress launch and docking.

Resupply Items

This morning Mike asked if we could supply him with 'antifog wipes' to be used during the EVA. We were able to tell Mike this evening that 25 wipes will arrive in Moscow tomorrow and will be shipped to Baikonur in time for the next Progress launch.

Personal Items - Today Mike asked if we could supply him with a star chart to replace the one that was lost. Star City personnel are trying to find a replacement.

COMMUNICATIONS SUMMARY

Network Status

Nominal

A/G with Consultants Group

10:07 - 10:28 Greenhouse camera adapter

Greenhouse data and operation

Missing Star Chart

Beetle and CGEL info

13:23 - 13:29 Greenhouse power

EVA equipment

Beetle move and power

15:00 - 15:01 Mag Light Bulbs

19:19 - 19:22 AntiFog Wipes for EVA on Progress

Thanks from PAO

Video System - Russian TV press conference

Altair Satellite System - Nothing to report

Packet -Nothing to report

News

Russian - None

English - None

Ham Radio - Nothing to report.

MIR SYSTEMS

The crew reported at 16:35 DMT that gyrodynes 2, 4, 5, 8, and 9 are working and controlling Mir attitude. Gyrodyne #3 was still in the process of being spun up.

Environmental Parameters (Previous 24 hour period)

Parameter Min. Max. Nominal Range

Pressure (mmHg) Base Block 670 673 660 - 850

ppO2 (mmHg) 148 151 140 - 200

ppCO2 (mmHg) 4.9 5.1 up to 8.0

ppH20 (mmHg) 12.1 13.4 8 - 14

Humidity (percentage) 55 59 30 - 75

Temperature (°C) base block (BB) 23.2 24.6 18 - 28

Temp (°C) docking/transfer module 15.6 17.6 18 - 28

Temp (°C) Priroda No data available 18 - 28

Mir Operations Support Team - (MOST)

JSC Payload Operations Support Area - (POSA)