MIRNEWS.383                              10 SEPTEMBER 1997
Progress-M35:  This old supply-ship has been keeping watch at the aft 
(Kvant-1) docking port as of 18.08, the day of th e redocking.  Due to the 
well-known priorities the crew has not paid any attention to this ship until 
8.09.97. One of t he first tasks of the this day was the opening of the hatch 
and the inspection of Pr-M35's interior.  The main function
 of the Pr-M35 was the protection of the docking mechanism of Kvant-1 against 
the sun. The freighter has still room in which garbage and other no longer 
needed material can be stowed.  During the first pass for our position in 
orb. 65998 (0522UTC) preparations for the opening of the hatch were going on. 
 The  crew got permission to open the hatch  after t he air seal checks.  
During the next pass in orb. 65999 ( the Russians  consider this orbit  to be 
number 66000)  the h atch had already been opened but Solovyov had set this 
ajar for the smell which  came out of the Pr-M35 was  far from  a 'kurort 
smell'.  The  crew however  had to cease all activities with the Pr-M35 due 
to other concerns.
Main Computer failure:  In the pass in orb. 65999 TsUP wants to discuss the 
air seal check with Vinogradov. V. interrup ts TsUP with the statement that a 
few minutes ago (exactly 0700UTC) the Ts.V.M.-1 had shut itself down.  After 
this rep ort  followed the usual chain reaction: the SUD (system for 
movements- or attitude control) stopped and Foale reported that this was also 
the case with the SUD in Module-D (Kvant-2).  Systems like SRV-U 
(regeneration of water from urine) and Elektron had to be switched off.  TsUP 
gave orders to burn 3 lithium perchlorate cartridges for oxygen generation. 
(Solovyov stated repeatedly that the delivery of a new supply of those 
cartridges during mission STS-86 is badly needed .) Foale reported that the 
angle of the solar panels to the sun  was unfavourable, but  that the complex 
though inclini ng a little bit on one side, was stable. In passing TsUP 
stated that they have a jubilee: the 66000th orbit of MIR's Ba se Block.  
This statement did not evoke joyful reactions or congratulations. 
In spite of the complicated situation on board there was some excitement: the 
'scapegoats of the space era' ,Tsibliyev and Lazutkin, visited TsUP and had a 
short conversation with their colleagues in space.  Foale, the crewman with a 
grea t sense of humour, told Tsibliyev that his 'darling' the SUD,  again 
chucked the thing. After a short conversation   wi th these 2  poor guys on 
earth about the fact that they would depart for a vacation,  the crew set  
back to work. 
About the computer:  The crew restarted the computer, but  failed to find the 
cause of the failure.  So they switched t he computer off.  A specialist told 
Vinogradov  that there must be a spare Ts.M.O. on board which eventually 
could be u sed to replace  the present Ts.M.O. (Central Module for Data 
exchange). The failure of the Ts.V.M.-1 during the redocki ng operation of 
the Pr-M35 had  probably been caused by a defective Ts.M.O.  In the course of 
the day it was obvious th at the crew had everything under control and that 
the repair of the computer was  successfully proceeding. 
During the night Solovyov was on duty to keep his eye on the situation  and 
to assist TsUP during the reloading of the repaired computer.  In the morning 
of 9.09 Solovyov was still on duty during the first pass over here in orbit 
66013, 0 427UTC. 
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Depending on the state of the SEP (Power supply system) they would power up 
the rest of the gyrodyna's this day.  Durin g the next pass Vinogradov was on 
duty and Solovyov  tried to get some rest in his sleeping bag.  Already 6 
gyrodyna's were spinning, the Elektron had been switched on, lights were 
burning and ventilators were buzzing again. Vinogradov re ported about the 
problems he had met while powering up the computer. He had met the same 
problems like Lazutkin a few w eeks ago. 
Stabilization:  At the beginning of the next day (10.09) it was obvious that 
the situation had been stabilising gradual ly. All available gyrodyna's  were 
functioning and the crew could eventually restart experiments. The main 
activity con sisted of the reanimation of the Module Priroda.  The interior 
of this module will be dried with hot air.  To blow this
 hot air into the module air-hoses are used. 
Next spacewalk (EVA): After the arrival of Progress-M36 in the beginning of 
October. 
Chris Vandenberg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
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