MIRNEWS.434 16 AUGUST 1998 Successful docking Soyuz-TM28: This transportship docked at MIR's aft (+X-axis) docking port on 15.08.1998 at 10.56.52UTC. The intention was to perform approach and docking in the automatic mode with the system Kurs, but at the distance of about 20 M, when the approach speed was almost 0 M/sec, TsUP seemed to be unsure about the good functioning of the Kurs system and ordered Padalka to take over the approach manually. From the distance of 12 M Padalka flawlessly steered his ship to the docking port and accomplished a perfect docking. Well done for a cosmonaut who makes his first spaceflight. He certainly deserves the so called 'manual docking bonus'. During the pass in the next orbit (71335, 1218-1229UTC) the crew prepared the TV-report of the opening of the hatches and the meeting of the 2 crews. It could be derived from the given communication commands that the images of that event would be transmitted on a UHF-channel and via Russian trackingstations, so not via Altair-2. Just before the complex disappeared behind my eastern horizon the crews got permission to open the hatches and to greet each other. This time the Russians refrained from the normal routine to have the first human contact between the 2 commanders due to the presence of the VIP Baturin. He got the honour to be the first crew member to float from S-TM28 into MIR and embrace his CIS-countryman, Musabayev. This took place at 1230UTC. From that moment on the crew of the MIR-space station consists of 5 persons and this will undoubtedly draw a heavy toil on the lifesupporting systems of the complex. Technically the situation on board was not 100% before the docking: the power supply is not fully restored and the station seems to fly in the free drift (they spoke about 'indikatornyy rezhim', but whether the gyrodynes are fully spinning or not has not been confirmed) and Musabayev got orders to economize power consumption and to switch off all superfluous equipment. Until his departure Musabayev will remain commander of both crews. During all communication sessions on 15.08.1998 it was clear that Musabayev acquits himself of that task. Meanwhile Budarin occupied himself with radio- amateurism on 145.985 mc. He tried to get in touch with Russian radio-amateurs. During the last pass in which MIR was able to communicate via a Russian tracking station with TsUP (orb. 71339, 1704-1715UTC) Musabayev called in vain and he decided to give his message blindly (hoping that TsUP would hear him anyway). He reported that they had reinstalled Baturin's seat liner (from S- TM28 to S-TM27). The BKV-3 (a.c.) worked after he had tried to switch it on 3 times. The humidity was quoted as 11.3, the gass composition in the station as: CO2 4.5, oxygen 203 and water 11.2. Pressure 797 MM. Communications during flight S-TM28: 13.08.1998: After the launch the signals of the S-TM28 could be monitored here for the first time between 1415-1420UTC. A very stable Padalka reported the results of the 1st and 2nd impulses: 1st 1384 during 32 seconds, 2nd 696 for 16 seconds. The SIRT (system for the measurement of the fuel consumption) gave after the 1st impuls 745 KG, after the 2nd one 728 KG (remaining fuel). During the following passes he reported that all went well, they were in a good mood and health and all systems worked nominally. There were only problems with a recording experiment. The device of that experiment did not give the right figgers. Baturin had been shooting video images. Good signals in the 166 and 165 mc bands and on 922.755 mc. During the pass between 1547 and 1552UTC again good signals on all frequencies. TCA (dip in 922.755 mc signal) was at 154915UTC. Padalka still very stable reported the good functioning of all systems. They had done something with the orientation in relation to the power supply and they got a good power reading between 25 and 26. The TV-test they had done was positive. They felt well and enjoyed the flight. 14.08.1998: Good signals on all frequencies and Padalka again sounded like a skilled cosmonaut. All parameters were normal and the only problem was a recording device about which Padalka long and extensively reported. Soyuz-TM27: The returnflight of the crew of the 25th Main Expedition to MIR (Musabayev and Budarin) and the cosmonaut-researcher-politician Baturin is scheduled for 25.08.1998. The S-TM27 will undock from MIR at 0220UTC descend was announced as 0526UTC. 26th Main Expedition to MIR: The crew of this ME is Padalka and Avdeyev. According to information now available (confirmed by a reliable source) this crew will remain on board MIR until June 1999. So if there will be no changes anymore the 26th ME is the last one to MIR. MIR-routine: In the period after MIRNEWS.432 a number of technical problems emerged. Radio communications revealed that the complex had been flying in free drift (indikatornyy rezhim), which caused a sharp decrease in power supply on 11.08.1998. That day all superfluous systems had to be switched off and for a while only 2 lamps were burning: one in the Base Block and one near the P.Kh.O. (transition section). There were also airseal problems. Musabayev had to check a rubber bearing of a hatch with his fingers. To secure a good atmosphere on board the crew used oxygen from a tank in the Progress-M39. The crew also repeatedly tested the Kurs antenna on Kvant-1 and they had to change cable connections of this system. Not long before the launch of S-TM28 they had to repeat such a test which seemed to have been positive. On 12.08.1998 Musabayev launched a long tirade in which he relieved his feelings. He has great problems with the activities of journalists who, in his opinion, are not really interested in the cosmonauts as such. Only when something goes wrong they are on it like a bird and then they blame the crew for that. He characterizes a lot of their publications as nonsens and even swinishness. He emphasizes that this expedition, the 25th, was a very fruitful one. While the MIR-station is operational for 12.5 years their expedition performed 50% of all melting experiments in the furnaces, for instance almost all what had to be done with the Optizon furnace. They accomplished experiments which could not be done by previous expeditions. In the 190 days of their mission they were not able to work according the formular 23 for 2 days and for this the crew was even not to blame. They also solved a lot of technical problems and he refers to the repair of the SUD (attitude control system) on the eve of the arrival of a Shuttle. The fact that life on board MIR is still possible is thanks to their work for they installed the new VDU (external thruster). They did a lot of cardio vascular experiments, which still had to be executed. My personal opinion about this argumentation is the following: I do not want to compare this expedition with other ones. But I agree with Musabayev: he was in command of a magnificent expedition. First day with 2 crews on board: On 16.08.1998 during the first pass Padalka asked TsUP whether they had seen something in the Telemetry and he supposed that they wished to speak to them. TsUP confirmed this and ordered Padalka to switch over to the 2nd regime for this conversation. From this moment on monitoring had no sense due the computerized scrambling of the speech. For a very long time, I dare to say for years, they had not used this routine. Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.