MIRNEWS.386                                       29 SEPTEMBER 1997
Computerfailure:  
Compared to computer failures in the past the crew was able to restore the 
situation very quickly. In the night from 22
 to 23.09 the crew successfully rebooted the same computer which they had 
replaced last week. The computer which failed
 on 22.09 had been stored for a long period in a cold and wet module. 
The following day the crew restarted a number of gyrodynes. Another failure 
they had to cope with was a malfunctioning ventilator of the Vozdukh, the CO2 
filter. The replacement of this ventilator was easy, but the crew lost much 
time in finding a spare.
The crew changed their sleep schedule to prepare for the arrival of Atlantis 
and for the period in which Atlantis will be attached to MIR.  To be sure 
that the computer will remain operational the crew used an air duct for 
cooling.  The g yrodynes functioned normally on 24.09 and so did the Vozdukh. 
During a direct TV-session in the early morning of 25.09  Foale commented 
images from the interior of the Base Block an d explained the problems with 
the computer. He also showed some video-recordings of his EVA on 6.09. 
Launch of Atlantis for mission STS-86: On 26.09 at 0234UTC Atlantis was 
launched while MIR flew over Europa and commica ted with TsUP.  The crew was 
listening to a direct report of the launch.  No reaction could be monitored 
for MIR disapp eared over the horizon. 
Atlantis, communications: Exactly 19 minutes after the launch (0253-0300UTC) 
Atlantis was in our range and communcated with Houstion via a trackingstation 
in Spain. Wetherbee reported a minor failure which he should ignore.  So he 
did wit h some other minor problems. He assured Houston to keep an eye on 
those matters. 
Docking Atlantis: In the course of 27.09 one of the channels of the computer 
behaved in a strange way. This lasted only
 a few milliseconds. 
A long time before the rendez-vous  Atlantis and MIR were in range  of each 
other enabling  both crews were   to commun icate via direct VHF-channels. 
Regretfully this all took place out of our range. 
At abt. 1900UTC Atlantis reached a point at 200 Metes below MIR. From there 
by the use of  the R-bar (or radial vector)
 approach she gently drifted to MIR with only a few little corrections with 
steering rockets by Wehterbee.  After alter ing his approach due to  a   
minor deviation of the attitude of the MIR-complex  he flawlessly  docked 
Atlantis at MIR.
 The Russians reported this success with the words 'kasaniye and zakhvat' 
(touch and capture). 
After a few minutes followed the hard mate and   the airtight checks. The 
equalization gave some problems: Foale felt p ain is his ears and in Spacehab 
an alarm indicated that the equalization was proceeding too quickly. 
For me it was a pleasure to hear Titov again from MIR.  Almost 9 years ago he 
left MIR after being in space for  366 da ys. (He then returned to earth 
together with Jean Loup Chretien, who had been in MIR for almost a month.) 
Relief: On the first full day of the Atlantis/MIR link-up Wolf replaced Foale 
as a member of the MIR crew, when Wolf's seatliner for his seat in the 
Soyuz-TM26 had been installed in this ' ferry- and rescue vehicle'. Wolf will 
use the Mod ule-D as his working- and living quarters. He will sleep in the 
airlock of that module. 
Radiotraffic MIR:  During the Atlantis/MIR link-up MIR will use the 
communications facilities of the Shuttle as well as
 the normal MIR frequencies.  The Shuttle is also equipped with the 130.165 
mc, the so called VHF-1.  On board of the S huttle this channel is AB-2.  In 
the night from 28 to 29.09 MIR communicated with TsUP Moscow on 143.625 mc. 
During thi s traffic TsUP reported that the Shuttle was flying in 'free 
drift'.  This took place in the framework of an attitude c ontrol experiment. 
During the next pass for our position at abt. 2200UTC the Shuttle was in 
control of the attitude aga in. 
Spacewalk (EVA): This EVA will be made by Parazynski and Titov and is 
scheduled for 1.10 between 1844-2334UTC (date and
 timeline not yet fully confirmed). The astronauts will retrieve a container 
with the MEEP experiment and 'park' a cap which might be necessary for the 
repair of Spektr's hull. In fact this will be an American EVA and the 
astronauts will enter open space through the airlock of the Shuttle. During 
the windows in which Atlantis/MIR is in range it might be  worthwhile to 
monitor Shuttle's EVA frequency 279.000 mc (mode AM-Wide). 
Installation of the new computer:  Possibly this computer will be installed 
during the Atlantis/MIR link-up. A final de cision still has to be taken.  If 
so this will be done after the EVA.  If circumstances demand this  the 
link-up of Atl antis and MIR can be extended by 24 hours. 
Chris Vandenberg, NL-9165/A-UK3202. 
--- Maximus 2.01
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