MIRNEWS.355    19 APRIL 1997

MIR-routine:

Immediately after the opening of the hatches to Progress-M34 the crew
began to unload the most important stuff for direct use. They used a part
of the new arrived pure oxygen supply and new lithium perchlorate 'disks'
for oxygen production. Radiotraffic revealed that the cosmonauts without
delay had started the repair otf the Elektronsystem in Module-D (Kvant-
2). On 11.04 this Elektron was activitated, but after a few minutes
during which oxygen was produced it switched itself off. On the days to
follow the crew regularly worked on this system and to undo the last
failure they even used a part of the unserviceable Elektron in Module-E
(Kvant-1). The urgent work on the Elektron caused a considerable work
overload of the crew. These days the astronaut Linenger is often deployed
to assist in this repairwork for which he has to refrain from a part of
his American experiments. A few times the work on the Elektron had to be
suspended for the execution of repairwork with a higher priority. This
had to do with a lot of leakages in the heating- and cooling circuits in
the Base Block and Kvant-1. The leaks in the cooling loops in Kvant-1
caused the outflaw of cooling liquid (ethylene glycol) and the decrease
of the pressure within that circuit. A sufficient cooling is also needed
for the functioning of the carbondioxyde (CO2) absorber Vozdukh. For the
neutralization of CO2 in MIR's atmosphere there is another alternative.
Progress-M34 delivered for that purpose canisters lithium hydroxyde.
Meanwhile the Elektron in Module-D and the Vozdukh CO2 scrubber are
functioning. The problems with the lifesupportsystems on board caused a
high humidity and consequently a lot of condensation. Twice a day
Tsibliyev can be heard reporting pulse rates, blood pressures, skin
temperatures and blood oxygen saturation of all crew members.

Orbitcorrection:

Using the engines of the Pr-M34 the orbit of the MIR-station had been
corrected on 15.04.19997 at 12.46.01UTC. Apogee and Perigee changed from
397.16/381.63KM to 402.54/389.51 KM.

Solar orbit:

Within a few days MIR will enter a so called solar orbit. During this
period MIR will continuously remain in sunlight. Then it will be more
difficult to control the on board temperatures. Tsibliyev said that
physically the crew is able to sustain this inconvenience, but that he
has some concerns about the equipment of the complex.

1st Spacewalk (EVA) MIR Main Expedition 23/ NASA 4:

This EVA is (or possibly meanwhile: was) on schedule for 29.04.1997. The
EVA will be executed if the repairworks can be accomplished before a
determined deadline.

Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.