MIRNEWS.391 22 OCTOBER 1997 Rehearsal Internal spacewalk (IVA) on 17.10.1997: This rehearsal lasted some hours. David Wolf stayed in the descent module of the Soyuz-TM26 ship from where he now and then communicated with TsUP or his working crewmates. Solovyov and Vinogradov tried to train for the IVA as realistically as possible. The original plan to replace the steering interface for the solarpanels from the Kristall to the Spektr module had been abandonned: installing this device with clumsy spacesuit gloves is a 'mission impossible'. So the only way to insert the Kristall interface in the circuitry for the servomotors of the solarpanels on Spektr was to deploy cables from the connection for these motors to the interface in Kristall. During the IVA Vinogradov has to connect 3 cables between the servomotors and the inside of the vacuumplate. Progress-M36: During the IVA the docking device of this freighter had to be depressurized. On Saturday, 18.10 the crew could not open a valve for this depress. Solovyov compared this with an equal experience he had during his short stay in MIR in June 1988, when Vladimir Titov was the commander. Probably the failure was caused by a failing switch. The crew resolved the problem on 19.10. IVA on 20.10: Opening of the hatch 45 minutes later than planned at 0940UTC. The delay was caused by the fact that it lasted longer to put on the Orlan-DMA spacesuits and a valve to one of the modules which failed to close. When the hatch was opened MIR was still out of range of the Altair-2 Comm. Sat. Vinogradov was the first to enter the Spektr module, followed by Solovyov who supported him and gave him instructions about his movements and what he had to do. The cosmonauts were surprised by the chaos they found inside Spektr. A lot of goods was floating around: 7 bags with experiments and personal belongings of Foale, a hometrainer (bicycle), some covers or lids, one of them belonging to the refrigerator, loose panels, the dockingdevice of the Spektr and a lot of dangling cables. Vinogradov had to be very careful not to get entangled in cables or structures. Solovyov told Vinogradov what he saw and instructed him how to restore order and where to stow away and fasten the goods. During the IVA David Wolf stayed in one of the seats of the Descent Module of S-TM26. He made images of the earth, for instance Africa, and checked the lifesystems of 'his ship': temperature, pressure and quality of the atmosphere over there, whether it was necessary or not to add oxygen, a.s.o. He mostly communicated with TsUP. Sometimes the cosmonauts spoke with him, saying 'Hello First Mate' (shturman). At last the cosmonauts began to execute their main task:connecting 3 cables between the servo motors of the solar panels with contacts on the vacuumplate between Spektr and the P.Kh.O. (transition section). It was very difficult but after consuming a lot of time Vinogradov managed to connect all three of them. Enormous difficulties they met during the last stage of the work: connecting the 3 cables with the contacts of the vacuumplate. The stiff, unwilling cables had to be attached firmly to those contacts. To make this possible Vinogradov used a spanner, manufactured for this operation and recently delivered to the station. The cables regularly popped out. Finally Vinogradov attached and fastened 2 of the 3 cables, but the 3d one was so recalcitrant that after struggling with it for almost 90 minutes Vinogradov did not succeed. He tried to this with the spanner and even took a long screwdriver to try to reach the bolt and fasten this. The length of the spanner was too short to use while holding it with a spacesuit glove. Later on Solovyov reported a second imperfection of this spanner: the coating at the inside of the head was too smooth to get a firm grip on the bolt. At 1524UTC TsUP told Solovyov that in 15 minutes the limit of 6 hours (the guaranteed endurance of the spacesuits) would be reached. If the cosmonauts preferred to continue the 'struggle' they could do this using the 'emergency oxygen supply'. Their eagerness to accomplish the full task was so strong that they decided to go on. After 38 minutes they returned to the transition section and closed the hatch, leaving the 3d cable dangling (and possibly laughing) behind. During those 38 minutes there was no communication between MIR and TsUP and for a long time TsUP did not know what had happened and the time of the closure of the hatch. They reported that this took place at 1618UTC. Great relief when during the pass in orbit 66661 (1642UTC) the cosmonauts could be heard again. They almost could not speak and breathed heavily. They were very disappointed about that 3d cable. Nevertheless TsUP heartily congratulated them with the partial success. These congratulations more or less gilded the pill. Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.