MIRNEWS.359    25 MAY 1997

Just before the beginning of Atlantis mission STS-84 I left my
'station'for a badly needed vacation. For those who use my 'MIRNEWS-
series' as a chronicle I decided to draft a short summary of that
mission. The information therein I derived from different sources.

Atlantis STS-84 mission largely accomplished successfully:

Launch Atlantis on 15.05.97; flawless docking with MIR on 17.05.97.
Michael Foale relieved his collegue Jerry Linenger. MIR's mission will be
named : MIR 23 / NASA 5.

Both crews succeeded in transferring mutually all what had to be
transferred within the 5-day period. Adding a 6th 'docking day' was not
needed. MIR was plentifully provided with an extra supply of water and
oxygen en the replacement equipment and spareparts to postpone for a very
long time the definitive termination of the aging spacestation. The most
important equipment for that purpose was the new oxygen machine
Elektron, which had to be installed in the Module-D (Kvant-2). The old
Elektron which had been repaired some weeks ago and has been operational
in Module-D has been reinstalled in the former spot in Kvant-1 to be used
as a reserve. The delivered supply of oxygen enables the crew to refrain
for a long period from the use of the Elektrons. Defective equipment,
for instance the old Elektron, which could not be repaired, has been
brought back to earth for analysis. Originally there has been a plan to
deliver a new Antares transmitter for communications via the
geostationary Altair-2 (now in position over 16 degrees West).
Information about this plan is still unclear and even sometimes
contradictory.

Communications:

During the combined flight the communications also to and from MIR had
been handled to a large extent via the American TDRS-facilities. MIR
communicated directly with trackingstations on Russian territory using
VHF frequencies. After the launch of Atlantis on 15.05 Eileen Collins
could be heard on 259.7 mc between 0826 and 0829UTC when she via a
trackingstation in Spain reported the 'power down of the APU'. Shortly
after the stabilization of Altair-2 over 16 degrees West there has been
word that the satellite had a transmitter failure and that the Russians
would do all what was possible to reactivate this transmitter. Due to my
absence I was not able to monitor 10.830 Ghz. During my stay in Budapest
I met a 'colleague' and he told me that he received somewhat like a 'wide
band' signal on that frequency, probably a test signal by the VKS
(Russian space forces). This was on 19.05. Later on and until the
afternoon of 21.05 the transponder transmitted a continuous carrier
without modulation. An other colleague in Western Europe monitored the
wideband signal and recorded this. Meanwhile there came some information
about the Antares transmitter on board MIR. The installation of a new
Antares has been put back until the arrival of a needed part which has to
be delivered by Progress-M35 (launch 22.06, docking 24.06).
Conlusion: Altair-2 is operational. The problem is still on board MIR.

MIR-routine:

The 3 crewmembers on board MIR again have to do the job alone. Just
before the arrival of Atlantis they repaired the defective
waterregeneration systems (SRV-K condensation and SRV-U urine). Before
a profound analysis on Earth of the quality of the water regenerated by
the SRV-K they are not allowed to drink this water. They are satisfied
about the new supply of oxygen and the relative high pressure of the
atmosphere on board: 780 mm. One of the first priorities is the search
and elimination of a leakage in the coolingloop VGK. The passes of the
MIR-station for our position take place during the nighthours. So for a
short period there will be not much radiotraffic via VHF unless something
special happens during these nighthours. I will remain on the alert!

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