A rchive Date
[ 07-06-2000 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Russia ]
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[Mir docked
Preparation for next mission begins
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV -- The Associated Press
Thursday, February 3, 2000
MOSCOW (AP) -- A Russian cargo ship flawlessly hooked up Thursday with the Mir space station, which has been orbiting unmanned since August, bringing vital supplies in the run-up to a new mission set to blast off in March.
In the past, automatic docking system have often failed and cosmonauts had to step in to perform the hook-up. Without a crew on board, there was a greater chance that the rendezvous could fail.
In 1997, there was a near-fatal accident when a cargo ship slammed into Mir, which was manned at the time, and punctured one of its modules during a practice docking.
Officials in Mission Control took a breath of relief when the Progress cargo ship docked with the station without a hitch on its first pass shortly after 11 am Moscow time Thursday.
It brought fuel to raise Mir's orbit and oxygen to compensate for the dropped cabin pressure, essential operations to accomodate the next crew, which is set to blast off on March 31 on a mission set to last at least 45 days.
If Thursday's docking had failed, space officials were prepared to send a crew to Mir earlier than scheduled and then have the cosmonauts guide the cargo ship in.
Mir is now orbiting some 200 miles above the Earth instead of the regular 250 miles, and the aging station has been losing oxygen, although officials said the leak was minor and easy to compensate for.
Mission Control spokesman Vera Medvedkova said a series of maneuvers to raise Mir's orbit will start Friday. The cabin pressure will be raised closer to the mission.
The Russian government last month approved the new mission, revising its earlier decision to stop financing Mir and abandon the nearly 14-year-old station unless private investors came up with funds.
The state-controlled RKK Energia company claimed that it had already received first $7 million from $20 million promised by foreign investors. Space officials plan to use booster rockets and cargo ships intended for the 16-nation International Space Station in the new Mir mission, hoping that private investments would help build replacements.
The U.S. space agency NASA has long urged Russians to abandon Mir, which has been plagued by a series of accidents, and commit their scarce resources to the international station. The project has been behind schedule for more than a year because of the Russian failure to build a crucial component on time.
But Russian space officials are reluctant to part with Mir -- the last symbol of the once-mighty Soviet space program -- and insist that the station remains safe to fly.
Russia launches military satellite
A Russian booster rocket carrying a military satellite blasted off Thursday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in the former Soviet republic of Kazakstan, officials said.
The Kosmos-2369 satellite entered its designated orbit less than 20 minutes after its launch using the Zenit-2 booster rocket. Officials at the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, which carried out the launch, wouldn't disclose the satellite's purpose or give further details.
The number of military satellites has dropped significantly due to the government's cash shortage following the Soviet collapse. The military's communications system and its ability to gather intelligence data and monitor missile launches has been sharply diminished.
The government decided last month to increase the number of launches this year to improve the satellite system.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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