MIRNEWS.442    23 OCTOBER 1998

Progress-M40:

The launch of this freighter from Baykonur is scheduled for 25.10.1998
at 04.14.55 UTC.

Besides the normal supplies (food, water, fuel, post, hard- and software,
repair material) Pr-M40 will have on board experiments for the French- and
Slowak expedition in February or March 1999.

The Pr-M40 also will deliver at MIR the experiment Znamya 2.5, a reflector
which will have to give some areas on Earth the impression that they got a new
'moon'. The experiment can be executed after the undocking of Pr-M40 when the
Russians are sure that the last freighter to MIR (Pr-M41) is well underway so
certainly not earlier than February 1999.

The docking of Pr-M40 at the aft docking port of MIR (Kvant-1, +X-axis) can be
expected in the early morninghours (for Western Europe) of Tuesday, 27.10.1998.

MIR-routine:

In the period after MIRNEWS.441 the cosmonauts continued to execute many
experiments. About these experiments more in one of the next reports.

Almost 'too close for comfort': On 14.10.1998 TsUP informed the crew about a
passing object this day at 22.40.57UTC . The shortest distance would be 4.6
KM on a course of 265 degrees and on a Pitch (Y-axis) of minus 82.44 degrees.
The cosmonauts seemed not to be impressed by this warning.

After many attempts to get more details about that object a friend in Russia 
gave me the following information:

Calculations showed that on 14.10.1998 at 22.40.56.6 UTC the rocket stage of
the Lacrosse-2 (NORAD index number 21148) had passed MIR in a distance of 4.5
KM.

1st Spacewalk (EVA) 26th Main Expedition to MIR:

According to the last information derived from radio conversations this EVA
will be made on 10.11.1998. The cosmonauts Padalka and Avdeyev will work in
open space to install an experiment for the French expedition at the outer
surface of the MIR-complex.

The original plan foresaw in an EVA around 15.11.1998, but this had to be put
forward due to the Leonids, a meteorite stream which has its maximum on
17.11.1998. An EVA close to this date would endanger the safety of the
'spacewalkers'.

Remark:

The transmission of this report was delayed due to a failure in the
system of my provider.

Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.