MIRNEWS.447    4 DECEMBER 1998

MIR-routine:

The fact that spacestation MIR was still alive was fully
overshadowed by the enormous publicity avalanche at the outset of International
Spacestation. Sometimes comments about the ISS even suggested that nothing had
happened between the Skylab and the Unity.

After the Spacewalk (EVA) of the MIR crew in the night from 10 to 11.11.1998
there were no special operations to report and the Leonid meteorite rain around
17.11.98 did not bring the expected sensation which astronomers promised
us. In the period for which the astronomers predicted the highest density the
crew were on board of the transportship Soyuz-TM28. Your scribe decided to
remain on duty to be sure of the most reliable monitoring of downlink traffic
via the ships channel 121.750 mc. The radiosilence was complete and after 3
passes and long periods of gazing into the universe he decided to do what the
cosmonauts obviously already had done: to go to sleep.

Quite a difference with the Perseid rain around 12.08.1993, when Tsibliyev and
Serebrov had to observe and count the flashes. The high rate of flashes made
counting impossible.Tsibliyev reported a number of 'hits' and the fact that
the station had suffered war-injuries.

So MIR is still alive and all is going well with the 26st Main Expedition.
The cosmonauts worked on a lot of experimental programs in the well known
fields: In the astrophysical field they worked with the rontgenspectrometer
Buket (to determine the radiation conditions, for instance gamma radiation
along MIR-s trajectory) and the magnetic spectrometer Mariya to measure neutron
streams and to study the earth's ionosphere. The altitude of the MIR-complex
gradually decreases which enables them to study the differences in condition of
several layers of the ionosphere. In the geophysical field the Lidar Alisa was
used for remote sensing of areas in Siberia.

With the Optizon furnace melting experiments were executed. The cosmonauts
performed biological experiments (the growth of plants) with the greenhouse
Svet.

Among the technical activities were checks of measurement instruments, the
functioning of the water- and oxygensystems, and the study of the performance
of a solar battery outside the Kristall module, which had been installed during
the last EVA.

The crew also spent some time looking for hard- and software for the French
Pegasus expedition in 1999. A part of this equipment and programs was
delivered to MIR by the freighter Progress-M40.

Decreasing apogee and perigee of MIR's orbit:

The natural drag causes a decrease of MIR's altitude by a couple of 100 Meters
every day. On 21.09.98 ap/per were resp. 370 and 360 KM; on 3.12.1998 these
values were 358.1 KM and 347.7 KM.

Chris van den Berg, NL-91165/A-UK3202.