(19 Jul 1997) Russian/Eng/Nat
The head of the Mir's flight programme has said the station's present crew will definitely not undertake repairs to the damaged Spektr module.
The decision takes the pressure off the two Russian cosmonauts and one American astronaut who will no longer have to undertake a dangerous space walk into the airless module.
It's also been confirmed that the French astronaut who was due to fly up to Mir next month will not be going.
This is the first footage of the Mir crew to be seen since a power failure on board the station on Wednesday evening.
The crew talked to Yuri Semyonov, the chief designer of Mir and Valery Ryumin, his deputy on Saturday.
The Russian Space Centre turned off the sound on the footage, saying the conversation with the crew was not to be heard by the public.
Vladimir Solovyov, director of the flight control programme, said it would make more sense for a new crew to carry out the space walk.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"There was absolutely no point for the crew on board now and who are not trained to do the space walk. It would make more sense for the new crew to carry it out who were trained to do so."
SUPER CAPTION: Vladimir Solovyov, Flight Director, Russian Mission Control
It also means a French scientific mission originally scheduled for launch with the new crew on August fifth will be cancelled.
Solovyov explained that the French experiments would take more time and energy than the beleaguered station can provide until it regains full power.
The decision to send a new team to make the repairs takes the pressure off the weary three-man crew.
But the men are said to be still disappointed.
SOUNDBITE: (Russian)
"On the one hand the crew understands the situation that it's sensible (not to do the space walk) but on the other hand they are very disappointed and you could see from their faces that they were sad about it because they wanted to do it themselves."
SUPER CAPTION: Vladimir Solovyov, Flight Director, Russian Mission Control
Mir was damaged following an accident when a supply ship collided with the space station in June, during docking, punching a hole in one of Mir's modules and causing the station to lose half its power.
Despite the on-going space stations troubles the Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, John Logsdon, says it's crucial for the Russian space programme that the Mir continues to function.
Logsdon says Russia cannot financially afford to lose the Mir space station.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Mir has all kinds of money earning potential for Russia over the next several years and represents a very large investment on Russia's part so understandably Russia is very loathe to abandon the complex."
SUPER CAPTION: John Logsdon, Director, Space Policy Institute, George Washington University
The station's next crew has been preparing for the Spektr repair job by practising in an underwater tank at Russia's Star City cosmonaut training centre outside Moscow.
The job will require one cosmonaut to don a spacesuit to venture into the depressurised Spektr module. Using special flexible gloves, he will have to re-attach power cables to the module's three working solar panels -- an operation described as extremely delicate.
Once the cables are reconnected, the station's power supply should return to nearly full levels, space officials have said.
But Logsdon believes sending a fresh team may not actually be the best plan.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
