MIRNEWS.371 20 JULY 1997 Cable trouble: By accident one member of the MIR crew disconnected a cable connection between a rate-sensor in Module Kristall and the SUD (attitude control computer), which caused a troublesome chain reaction of system failures. Among the systems which did not work anymore were also transmitters in the baseblock, the UKW-1 transceiver and Telemetry transceivers. So for communications, but also for an alternative attitude control the crew had to use the systems of the fully autonomous Soyuz-TM25. During the nighthours I use to record transmissions using a timeswitch. In the morning I did not find anything on my tape and during the pass in orbit 65171, 0548-0559UTC, the 143.625, 145.985 and the 166/165 mc telemetry transmitters did not show any sign of life. I checked whether they used Altair-2 or not: again negative. A few minutes after the pass Geoff Perry told me that he had heard them on 121.750 mc. During the next pass they still used the 121.750 mc during which Geoff Perry heard them laughing in reaction on that what TsUP had said. The first pass in which the 143.625 mc was in use again was during orbit 65173 at 0900UTC. Tsibliyev reported that there has been some recharging of the accumulators again and consequently they had switched on some systems, i.e. the UKW-1 transmitter and Telemetry transceivers. In the early morning of 18.07 I was on duty during the nightly passes. During 2 of them (in orb. 65184 and 65185) all service frequencies remained silent, but I had a hope that conditions had improved for on 145.985 mc there were Packet Radio bursts again. During the pass in orb. 65186 Tsibliyev kept watch in the Base Block and he confirmed that the situation was better than the day before. His 2 colleagues still slept which they badly needed because of the fact, as Tsibliyev stated, they had to endure so much during the last days. During the passes still to follow he also slept and the only sign of life was the continuous rattle of Packet Radio. My oscilloscope did not give any indication that Altair-2's downlink was active. VHF: The first windows in which VHF-traffic could be monitored here before the early morning hours of 19.07 and as my body was longing for a good night's rest I adjusted my timeswitch so that during all windows a recorder was active. And of course this time not only for the 143.625, but also for the 121.750 mc. After a night in which I slept like a log I found a recording of the transmissions on 143.625 mc during the first pass in orb. 65199 (0045UTC). Lazutkin had the middle watch in the Base Block and he reported good results of the recharging of accumulators and the fact that there was GSO-1 (gyro stabilized orientation), a very slow rotation and the complex flew on one side. Later on Lazutkin was in his couch and only the Packet Radio and Telemetry transmitters were active. Altair-2: During orbit 65203 Altair-2 showed up again. A signal on 10.825 GHz and on the monitor images of floating cosmonauts, the interior of the Base Block and now and then a glimpse of the damaged Spektr. Also phone in which Foale told that he has to use a list with things he needs for the IVA and components for the Orlan-DMA suit. This list in Russian and he asks for an English translation to make it easier for him in contacts with American experts during trainings for the IVA and the IVA itself. Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.