Subject: Mirnews 279 by Chris vd Berg (forwarded)
From: Gert-Jan Bartelds <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 15 Nov 95 19:24:21 EST

Here's the next one. Have fun. Gert-Jan  [email-masked]
==============================================================

>From:    Chris Vandenberg                       Sent 
To:      All                                    Msg #309, 13-Nov-95 17:20:26
Subject: MIRNEWS.279

MIRNWS.279          12 NOVEMBER 1995

Radiotraffic:
   This traffic increases every day: MIR utilizes every available window,
even sometimes at the same time 2 frequencies are in use, 143.625mc for
the Russians, 130.165mc for Thomas Reiter. The radio-amateur traffic can be
heard on 145.550mc (phone, status-report in English or Packetradio) and on
frequ. 145.850mc downlink phone.  In the field of the geostationary
satellites the Russians use Altair and the Luch over 96 degr. East. When
they were only using Altair the sessions lasted abt. 50 minutes. Now they
sometimes switch over from Altair to Luch, which means that they can keep
in touch with TsUP for almost 1.5 hours at a stretch.

MIR-routine: 
   After the -possibly provisional- repair of the leakage in the main
cooling system (K.O.Kh-1) the 3 crewmembers are very busy with the Euromir95
program and with the preparations to select and to pack all what has to be
send to earth with the Atlantis. This cargo consists of samples of a number
of technological- and material processing experiments, micro-biological
material (blood-, urine- and salivasamples) and floppy-discs with results of
experiments. A hell of a job to find the right packages and to be sure not
to spoil samples before transfer to Atlantis. They will also send to earth
things belonging to the equipment of MIR. In the past the cosmonauts loaded
things which they had to throw away in Progress-freighters to be burnt up
in the atmosphere or they launched these items in space through a minor
airlock. Now the Russians utilize this opportunity to have this all
analysed on earth. Among this cargo are defective equipment and instruments 
and even containers with condensed water.

Launch of Atlantis (STS-74): 
   One day later than planned the Atlantis blasted off from K.S.C. on
12.11.95 at 123043UTC.  OMS-2 burn took place at 131617UTC.  Docking with
MIR is planned for 15.11.95 at 0620UTC (according to TsUP) or 0628UTC
(according to American sources). The first pass in which we can hear the
MIR-station that day is during orbit 55650 from 0610-0617UTC during which
Atlantis is in the 'final approach'. MIR can communicate with TsUP via
Altair from 0534-0628UTC and via Luch from 0606-0704UTC. Based on
experiences during the last week MIR will switch over from Altair to Luch
on 0606UTC.

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