Subject: mirnews.407
From: "C.M. vd Berg" <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 10:30:49 -0500 (EST)

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 astronaut Leopold Eyharts made a
soft landing not far from the city Arkalyk in Kazakhstan on 19.02.98 at
0910UTC.  The weather 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 helicopter 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-TM26 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 started.  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.  Budarin 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. -transition 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.