MIRNEWS.403    16 JANUARY 1998

7th Spacewalk (EVA) 24th Main Expedition MIR:

The EVA took place between 14.01.1998 2112UTC and 15.01.1998 0104UTC.
(Duration 3 hrs 52 mins.). These times were those of the opening and the
closure of the outer hatch (airlock Module-D Sh.S.O. to open space). Solovyov
and Wolf had to put on their spacesuits in the P.N.O. (Instrument-and
scientific compartment) and to use this compartment for vacuuming. After the
previous EVA-s the outer hatch of the airlock Sh.S.O. was still leaking and so
S. and W. had to begin the operation in the P.N.O. Two and a half hours before
the planned beginning of the EVA they already were in that compartment. When he
was in the Sh.S.O. and ready to open the outer hatch Solovyov met problems:
unbolting the defective lock of that hatch lasted a longer than expected and at
2112UTC, so 32 minutes behind schedule, he could open the hatch.

The problems with the hatch made Flight Control decide to change the working
schedule for the operation. The inspection with the American photo-
reflectometer was restricted to the outersurface of Module-D (Kvant-2) and that
of the Base Block was cancelled. In that way Solovyov got extra time to work on
the defective bolting of the outer hatch. Outside they installed a camera for
the observation of their activities. The images were transmitted to Vinogradov
who was inside the complex to assist and observe his comrades. Vinogradov could
see the images on a screen and now and then he downlinked these images via
Altair-2. The performance of that camera did not fully come up to the
expectations due to some 'communication' problems. Not all went as wished with
the spectrometer. The spectrometer had to be installed temporarily at different
locations and sometimes it was difficult to do this due to a lack of space
between handrails and the surface. Handling the instrument and the reading of
data were also very difficult.

To be honest:

the main purposes of this EVA were not the experiments with the spectrometer
and the camera. The most important was that Wolf made this EVA. The Americans
have a great interest that their astronauts gather EVA-routine in space station
circumstances. Such routine is valuable during the construction of the
Intenational Space Station. Besides: the Russians as well as the Americans
indulged Wolf in his desire to make an EVA for he, like his predecessors, was
yearning for this adventure.

All possible windows for communications via the geostationary Altair-2 were
utilized and my log of this traffic got the size of a little book. The traffic
revealed that Solovyov's task of guide and coach of Wolf was far from easy.
Wolf had not much practice in this field and relatively modest training.
Solovyov had to keep a sharp watch on Wolf to protect him from mistakes and
irresponsible activities. He told Wolf to maintain his concentration: Look out,
Do not damage that sensor, Keep your movements under control, If you want to
say something - keep it short, and even: 'Dave, keep quiet!' He also got orders
not to speak English. Solovyov also urged him only to touch things or to take
action when instructed to do so. But there was also joy: Vinogradov suggested
Wolf to enjoy the sight of the Earth. Wolf told that he saw cities like Cairo,
Tel Aviv, the Mediterranean and other beaches, the emirates and Vinogradov told
him that they would have a good sight of Baykonur.

A short time before 0100UTC on 15.01.98 Wolf and Solovyov had entered the air
lock and S. closed the hatch behind him at 0104UTC. Before doing so S. had
thoroughly inspected the hatch and port. He found no anomalies. The rubber
packingring was still in a good shape.

After closing the hatch S. continued to work on the locks of the hatch. This
was a time-consuming activity. When S. had done all what he could they used the
P.N.O. for repressurizing and taking off the space suits. At 0233UTC S. closed
the hatch between the S.Sh.O. and the P.N.O. For a long time the pressure in
the Sh.S.O remained stable. (627 mm).

In a number of conversations Wolf expressed his satisfaction about the EVA. He
stated that 'the person with the least routine' enormously enjoyed the EVA. It
surprised him that he felt himself like a fish in the water: he had no
orientation problems, all the time he knew where he was and what he was doing.
His predecessors sometimes had the impression that they were falling into open
space, but David did not have that experience. During these and other
conversations Solovyov and Vinogradov also were very positive about this EVA.
For Solovyov it was his 16th EVA (and possibly his last one). It will last a
long time before somebody else can beat this record.

Correction on MIRNEWS.402:

The Endeavour (STS-89) will be launched on 23.01 at 0248UTC (so not on
22.01.98).

Progress-M37:

Before the arrival of the Soyuz-TM27 on 31.01.1998 the freighter Pr-M37 will
have to free the aft docking port (Kvant-1, +X axis). There are no plans to use
Pr-M37 for stunts. A few hours after the separation from MIR Pr-M37 will burn
up in the atmosphere.

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