MIRNEWS.407                                                    19 FEBRUARY 
1998
SOYUZ-TM26  made safe landing:
The S-TM26 with on board the relieved crew of the 24th Main Expedition to MIR 
(Solovyov and Vinogradov) and the CNES as tronaut Leopold Eyharts made a soft 
landing not far from the city Arkalyk in Kazakhstan on 19.02.98 at 0910UTC.  
The we ather in the landing area was bad,    though there was a slight 
improvement in the hour before the landing they had to land in a blizzard. So 
the search- and rescue operation lasted relatively long and to avoid 
collision only one helicopt er had been directed to the  landing position.   
Return operation:
S-TM26 separated from the complex at 05.52.50UTC.  During the autonomous 
flight all went well. In the nighthours  S-TM2 6 communicated via the eastern 
tracking stations in Russia. From  0805UTC until the reentry in the 
atmosphere at approx . 0847UTC the communications  could be monitored via 
Altair-2.  The signals from and to Soyuz-TM26 were relayed via the
 satellite transceiver on board MIR and from there via the Altair-2  
geostationairy satellite.  The engine which had to
 slow down the velocity of S-TM26 to achieve reentry  was switched on  at 
08.16.20UTC. Solovyov reported the data about
 the impulses in meters per second and the fuel consumption  (SIRT) in 
kilograms. The engine was shut off after approx.
 260 seconds. At 08.41.35UTC the program for the separation of the motor 
compartment and the life compartment was start ed.  The mood of the men on 
board the descending landing compartment was very good,  they could be heard 
laughing.  The
 last signal from S-TM26 which could be monitored via Altair-2 was the well 
known ANAN beacon. 
Altair-2 remained active for MIR-traffic until 0855UTC.  Musabayev is now in 
command of the 25th Main Expedition.  Buda rin reported his attempts to 
observe and film the descending S-TM26. 
 
Soyuz-TM27:  On 20.02.1998 the crew of MIR will enter the S-TM27 for the 
redocking flight.  Between 0845 and 0930UTC S-TM27 will make an autonomous 
flight from the aft (Kvant-1,  +X axis) port to the forward one (-X axis,  
P.Kh.O. -transi tion section).
 
Progress-M37: The return of this freighter to the MIR complex (to aft docking 
port) is scheduled for 23.02.1998. 
 
Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202. 
--- Maximus 2.01
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