Subject: Mirnews.276 by Chris vd Berg (forwarded)
From: Gert-Jan Bartelds <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 95 07:34:52 EDT

Hello all. Hopefully you will have gotten this message in time to follow 
the Mir EVA by Reiter and Avdeyev.         Gert-Jan ([email-masked])
==========================================================================
>From:    Chris Vandenberg                       Sent 
To:      All                                    Msg #379, 19-Oct-95 20:32:04
Subject: MIRNEWS.276

MIRNEWS.276     19 OCTOBER 1995

Spacewalk (EVA) on 20.10.1995:

  During the last weeks the crew on board MIR have been busy with
preparations for that EVA. They trained and  checked spacesuits and
systems. On 18.10 they concluded this work. The EVA has to begin at 1155UTC
(opening of the hatch) until 1740UTC (closure of the hatch). So longer than
announced in ESA publications (3 or 4 hours). The EVA will be done by
Reiter and Avdeyev. Reiter will be the first to leave the complex. For the
communications the Russians will use a number of groundstations and the
geostationary Altair. Four Altair windows (between 1022- 1610UTC) will be
utilized before and during the EVA. During the first pass of MIR for this
region (orbit 55236, 1649UTC) there might be some traffic regarding the EVA
on the frequencies 143.625 and 130.165 mc. 
   During 2 long sessions on 18 and 19.10 via Altair among which
press-conferences dedicated to the meeting of ESA-ministers in Toulouse,
the crew paid attention to the oncoming EVA.  Reiter showed images of the
exit-hatch and Gidzenko showed images of the bag with material to be used
and installed during the EVA. The lever (crane) Strela, guided by Avdeyev,
will bring Reiter to the outersurface of the Spektr module. Believe me: not
an easy job!  Everybody is optimistic for Avdeyev has a record of 4 EVA's
made during his flight in 1991/92.

MIR-mission extended. 

  Reason for this extension is the fact that the factory in Samara building
the Soyuz-rocket for the launch of the relief crew is not able to deliver
this rocket in the beginning of January 1996 without overtime for its
staff. This overtime had to be paid with money from the budget for the
Russian national spaceprogram. The Russian space agency refused to pay
this.  MIR's Main Expedition 20 and Euromir95 had to be extended by 44
days. From the TV-sessions mentioned above  I could derive the fact that
nobody has objections against this prolongation: Thomas Reiter is pleased
that he can remain in space longer and so do his crewmates and even Frau
Reiter agreed.  ESA gets this prolongation for a bargain price compared
with the prices former foreign guest-cosmonauts had to pay for a short
flight. Now there is time enough to execute the Euromir95 program and to do
a lot more. For instance ESA and the Russians decided to insert a 2d EVA.

--- Maximus 2.01
 * Origin: Scoop BBS (The Netherlands) +31-33-2996366 (2:500/202)