MIRNEWS.402                            9 JANUARY 1998
6th Spacewalk (EVA) crew 24th Main Expedition MIR:
This EVA started on 8.01.98 at 2308UTC and ended on 9.01.98 at 0214UTC.  The 
times were those of the opening and closur e of the outerhatch of the airlock 
of Module-D (Sh.S.O.).  The Russians confirmed the duration: 3 hrs 6 
mins.(Changes  in this duration might be possible for the cosmonauts had in 
fact to use 2 airlocks  i.e. the PNO - Instrument and scie ntific 
compartment- and the Sh.S.O.)
At the outset it was clear that the plan of work had been changed. 
Radiotraffic during the last days revealed that it w as difficult for 
Solovyov and Vinogradov to  mend the outerhatch of the Sh.S.O. not knowing 
what exactly was wrong. 
They now had orders not to try to repair the hatch, but only to inspect and 
film the exit port and the hatch. 
They used the PNO to don and check their spacesuits and as an airlock.  Very 
soon they also opened the hatch between th e PNO and the Sh.S.O. It lasted a 
long time before the Sh.S.O. was depressurized and the outerhatch could be 
opened. 
Almost immediately Vinogradov discovered what the problem had been: one of 
the many locks of the hatchdoor was in a bad
 shape and , as the Russians use to say : 'vinovat', so guilty! The 
reparation of this lock can be accomplished without
 the need for an extra EVA.  He also said that only 5 of 10 locks had been 
used. So probably  the hatch has enough rese rve locks to secure a safe 
air-seal. 
 
Inspection of the packing of the exit port did not reveal    anomalies. After 
this inspection the cosmonauts used one o f the Strela cranes to go to the 
outersurface of the SO (docking compartment at Module-T) from where they 
dismantled th e American optical monitoring experiment   OPM  for retrieval.  
They also checked the connections of some antenna's bef ore returning to the 
airlock. 
David Wolf remained inside the complex and assisted his colleagues, made 
photo- and video-images and now and then commu nicated with them or TsUP. 
Apart from one all Altair-2 windows have been used for phone-communications. 
Altair-2 was only in use when MIR was not in direct range of Russiand 
tracking stations. After the EVA  during a  session via Altair-2 the crew 
transmitted  vide o images made by David and the cosmonauts.   
After the EVA the crew as well as experts on earth were very satified about 
the good results of this operation.  The pr essure in the meanwhile 
repressurized and sealed Sh.S.O remained stable at 640 mm mercury until 
deadline of this report . 
 
The 7th EVA of MIR's Main Expedition nr. 24:  The positive results of the 6th 
EVA mean green light for the EVA by Solov yov and David Wolf in the night 
from 14 to 15.01.98.
Opening hatch: 14.01.98 at 2040UTC. 
Computer repair: The computer failure reported in MIRNEWS.401 could be 
repaired very quickly.  The crew used a spare Ts .M.O. (Central Exchange 
Module) and after installing and testing  of this interface in the night from 
2 to 3.01.1998 th e SUD (movements control system) was restored.  The effect 
of the last  computerfailure has been less dramatic than  us ually during 
recent failures due to a better power supply situation. 
STS-89 (Endeavour): On 7.01.1998  NASA confirmed that the launch will take 
place on 22.01 at 0248UTC with a docking at MIR on 24.01 at 2012UTC. 
Endeavour will separate from MIR on 29.01.98 at 1652UTC. 
Soyuz-TM27: This transportship with the reliefcrew (Musabayev and Budarin) 
and the French (CNES) astronaut Leopold Eyha rts starts from Baykonur on 
29.01.98 at 1633UTC.  Estimated time docking at MIR: 31.01 at 1833UTC. 
So for 2 days 3 manned objects will be autonomously orbitting earth with  in 
same inclination: 51.6 dgs: Endeavour, MIR
 and Soyuz-TM27.  
Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
--- Maximus 2.01
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