MIRNEWS.403                                     16 January 1998
7th Spacewalk (EVA) 24th Main Expedition MIR;
 
The EVA took place between 14.01.1998   2112UTC and 15.01.1998  0104UTC. 
(Duration 3 hrs 52 mins.).  These times were t hose of the opening and the 
closure of the outer hatch (airlock Module-D Sh.S.O. to open space).   
Solovyov and Wolf ha d to put on their spacesuits in the P.N.O. (Instrument- 
and scientific compartment) and to use this compartment for vac uuming.  
After the previous   EVA-s  the outer hatch of the airlock Sh.S.O. was  still 
leaking and so S. and W. had to begin the  operation in the P.N.O.  Two and a 
half hours before the planned beginning of the EVA they already were   in
 that compartment. When he was in the Sh.S.O.  and ready to open the outer 
hatch Solovyov met problems:   unbolting the
 defective lock of that hatch lasted a longer than expected  and  at 2112UTC, 
so 32 minutes behind schedule, he could o pen the hatch. 
The problems with the hatch made Flight Control decide to change the working 
schedule for the operation. The inspection
 with the American photo-reflectometer was restricted to the outersurface of 
Module-D (Kvant-2) and  that of the Base B lock was cancelled.  In that way  
Solovyov got extra time to  work on the defective bolting of the outer hatch. 
  Outsi de they installed a camera for the observation of their activities. 
The images were transmitted to Vinogradov who was i nside the complex to 
assist and observe his comrades. Vinogradov could see the images on a screen 
and now and then he d ownlinked these images  via Altair-2.  The performance 
of that camera  did not fully come up to the expectations   due to some 
'communication' problems. Not all went as wished with the spectrometer.  The 
spectrometer had to be installed t emporarily at different locations and 
sometimes  it was difficult to do this due to a lack of space between   
handrails
 and the surface. Handling the instrument and the reading of data were also 
very difficult.  
To be honest: the main purposes of this EVA were not the  experiments with 
the spectrometer and the camera. The most im portant was that Wolf made this 
EVA. The Americans have a great interest that their astronauts gather 
EVA-routine in sp ace station circumstances. Such routine is valuable during 
the construction of the Intenational Space Station.  Besides :  the Russians 
as well as the Americans indulged Wolf in his desire to make  an EVA for he, 
like his predecessors,    was yearning for this adventure. 
All possible windows for communications via the geostationary Altair-2 were 
utilized and my log of this traffic got the
 size of a little book.  The traffic revealed that Solovyov's  task of guide 
and coach of  Wolf was far from easy. Wolf
 had not much practice in this field and relatively modest training.  
Solovyov had to keep a sharp watch on Wolf   to p rotect him from mistakes 
and irresponsible activities. He told Wolf  to maintain his concentration:  
Look out, Do not d amage that sensor,  Keep your movements under control, If 
you want to say something  - keep it short, and even:  'Dave,
 keep quiet!'  He also got orders not to speak English. Solovyov also urged 
him only to touch things or to take action when instructed to do so. 
But there was also joy:  Vinogradov suggested Wolf to enjoy the sight of the 
Earth. Wolf told that he saw cities like C airo, Tel Aviv, the Mediterranean 
and other beaches, the emirates and Vinogradov  told  him that they would 
have a good
 sight of Baykonur. 
A short time before 0100UTC on 15.01.98 Wolf and Solovyov  had entered the 
air lock and S. closed the hatch behind him at 0104UTC.  Before doing so S. 
had thoroughly  inspected the hatch and port. He found no anomalies. The 
rubber packing ring  was  still in a good shape. 
After closing the hatch S. continued to work on the locks of the hatch.  This 
was a time-consuming activity.  When S. h ad done all what he could they used 
the P.N.O. for  repressurizing and taking off the space suits. At 0233UTC S. 
closed
 the hatch between the S.Sh.O. and the P.N.O.  For a long time the pressure 
in the Sh.S.O remained stable. (627 mm). 
In a number of conversations Wolf expressed his satisfaction about the EVA. 
He stated that  'the person with the least routine'   enormously enjoyed the 
EVA. It surprised him that he felt himself like a fish in the water: he had 
no  orien tation problems,   all the time he knew where he was and what he 
was doing.  His predecessors sometimes had the impress ion that they were 
falling into open space, but David did not have that experience.  During 
these and other conversatio ns Solovyov and Vinogradov also were very 
positive about this EVA.    For Solovyov it was his 16th EVA (and possibly hi 
s last one). It will last a long time before somebody else can beat this 
record. 
Correction on MIRNEWS.402: The Endeavour (STS-89) will be launched on 23.01 
at 0248UTC (so not on 22.01.98).
 
Progress-M37: Before the arrival of the Soyuz-TM27 on 31.01.1998 the 
freighter Pr-M37 will have to free the aft docking
 port (Kvant-1,  +X  axis). There are no plans to use Pr-M37 for stunts.  A 
few hours after the separation from MIR Pr-M37 will burn up in the 
atmosphere. 
Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
--- Maximus 2.01
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