MIRNEWS.401                             2 JANUARY 1998
Dear readers and users of my MIRNEWS-es: I wish you  and your family a Happy 
and Prosperous  New Year  and  a lot of jo y and successes  in our mutual 
field of interest. 
MIR-routine:  In the period after the last MIRNEWS the situation on board MIR 
was far from easy. After the  freon leak 
  the A.C. (BKV-3)  remained switched off and the dehumidification of MIR's 
atmosphere was not sufficient. To gather at
 least 2.5 liters of the normal 4 liters of condensation the condensation 
regenerator in the Life Compartiment  of Soyu z-TM26  was activated.   In 
cold areas of the complex there is an enormous condensation. This 
condensation is almost re aching dangerous levels. To obtain sufficient water 
from condensation the Life Compartment of S-TM26 had to be cooled d own. In 
this period the Elektrons did not work due to repair work and so Lithium 
Perchlorate cartridges had to be burnt
 for oxygen production.  The cosmonauts accomplished the repair of the 
Vozdukh (CO2 scrubber) in the Base Block and as of 2.1.98 this system works 
and helps a little bit to remove water-vapour to open space. There is also a 
lot of condensation in the cold Progress-M37 and the crew deployed an 
air-hose to blow cool air from th ere into the Base Block.  In the period 
between 27 and 30.12.97 MIR  remained continuously  in full sunlight and the 
te mperatures in the Base Block reached values above 30 dgs C.  The 
cosmonauts did not complain about these inconvience an d David Wolf even 
stated that he likes high temperatures which give him more energy. 
Failing Main Computer and Movements control system:
In the night from 1 to 2.01.1998 the SUD (movementscontrol) gave an alarm and 
the Ts.V.M.-1 switched itself off. The ca use was still unclear at deadline 
of this report.  TsUP even thought that a virus played a part in that. After 
a viruss can TsUP said there had not been a virus. The cosmonauts recently 
had checked the Ts.V.M.-1 with an anti-virus program of Nov. 97 and they did 
not find anything.  During passes in the morning of 2.1.98 TsUP asked the 
cosmonauts to suspend
 all activities and wait for further instructions.  TsUP tried to use 
Telemetry for analysis, but they only got incompr ehensible data. The 
solarbatteries do not get the full sunshine and the cosmonauts had to switch 
the lights out and use
 electric torches.   For today   the repair work on the Elektrons has been 
cancelled.
 
Spacewalks (EVA-s):  
The first EVA (Solovyov and Vinogradov) is scheduled for 8.01.98 from 2320UTC 
(opening hatch between Scientific and ins trument compartment  and Airlock of 
 Module-D). This EVA will last appr. 5hrs 30 mins. If  Solovyov and 
Vinogradov  during that EVA accomplished the repair of  the hatch of the 
air-lock  the second EVA (Sol ovyov and Wolf) might take place on 14.01.98 
from 2040UTC (opening hatch of air-lock of module-D.)  Duration appr. 2 hr s. 
Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
 
 
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