Subject: Mirnews.427
From: "C.M. vd Berg" <[email-masked]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 13:39:39 -0400 (EDT)

Dit is een meerdelig bericht in MIME-indeling.

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MIRNEWS.427                                                              =
     9 JUNE 1998

Communications: The crew of Discovery was not able to restore the =
transmissions of TV images via the Ku-band. Nevertheless the Russians =
did not increase the use of their geostationary satellite. An American =
press release characterized the Russian Altair-2 system as a Spartan =
system. Unfortunately the Russians did not seize the opportunity to show =
the possibilities of that Spartan system by putting this system at the =
diposal of the STS-91 mission for public relation purposes, i.e. TV-live =
events, also from the Shuttle itself. Possibly there also have been =
problems with that system for on 6.06.1998 something was wrong with a =
TV-link between TsUP and a trackingstation. During a press-conference =
only voice communications were possible. The TV-reports from MIR of =
which only a few reached us via CNN were relayed by tracking stations =
inside Russia via UHF-channels. This could be derived from the use of =
the command code Anna-86 during VHF communications. These videolinks =
lasted shorter than those via Altair-2 and the quality was not so good =
and sometimes only black and white images were possible.=20

>From the Russian segment of the combination Discovery-MIR the Russians =
communicated with TsUP via their own VHF-channels. Discovery used for =
voice communications with Houston the S-band channel via the TDRS-es. =
During one of the communication windows on 5.06.98 Musabayev tried to =
get in contact with TsUP for a long time. He asked Charlie Precourt to =
warn TsUP Moscow via one of the American channels and this helped. The =
last months the MIR-crew regularly called TsUP in vain for long periods, =
even via Altair-2. Deteriorated motivation of the Capcoms at TsUP?=20

Andy Thomas: On 5.06.98, so 1 day after the docking of Discovery, Andy =
settled himself into the Shuttle and became a member of STS-91's crew. =
He regularly showed up inside the contours of the MIR-complex, but did =
no longer communicate from there with TsUP Moscow.=20

Valeriy Viktorovich Ryumin: This leading designer of RKK Energiya and =
former Salyut-6 cosmonaut needed only a few days extra to bring his =
spaceflight record up to 365 days, so a full year. On 5.06.1998 he =
passed this limit and both crews celebrated this jubilee on board MIR. =
Musabayev offered for this opportunity guitar music. All styles were =
possible: Beatles, Russian- or Kazakh folksongs, even that of Vysotskiy. =
For Ryumin as a highranking official of RKK Energiya it was an excellent =
opportunity to execute an extensive inspection of MIR's systems. =
Musabayev and Budarin were very pleased that this earthling could see by =
his own eyes the situation about which cosmonauts so often complained. =
He was displeased about the enormous mess within the station. In his =
opinion the abundance of useful, but also of superfluous and useles =
things, makes the work for cosmonauts, in particular new ones, extremely =
difficult. Behind a panel he found a lot of rubbish and he asked TsUP =
permission to get rid of that. Among this rubbish were some cables and =
TsUP did not give him this permission. He grumbled a little bit, but did =
not press the matter for he himself had ordered that cosmonauts always =
have to stick to decisions from flight control. During consversations =
with TsUP about technical matters Musabayev sometimes referred to =
Ryumin. For instance about the problems they had with the installation =
of camera's to document the departure of the Discovery. The brackets =
near certain portholes to fix these camera's did not fit. Ryumin said =
that the man at TsUP had to write this down in his report in red capital =
letters.=20

I have been listening to the voices of cosmonauts for some decades and =
it was a real sensation to hear this old stager again via my headphones. =
It felt as if a timemachine had put me back 20 years.=20

Module Spektr: Almost for a year the experts are struggling along with =
the 1000 dollar question how to locate the leakages in the hull of the =
Spektr module. Previous attempts to find these leakages by pumping =
fluorescent gasses through Spektr were unsuccessful. Mission STS-91 gave =
the last opportunity to try this again. The first test was executed on =
6.06.1998 during the VHF-pass in orbit 70242, between 1756 and 1807UTC. =
Budarin opened the valve of Spektr's hatch and inflated the fluorescent =
gasses into the module. Musabayev gave a count down so that everybody on =
board of Discovery could be alert with camera's and at portholes. During =
the test Budarin reported the pressures inside Spektr. These values were =
relatively low, not more than 55 MM mercury. Precourt reported that =
nothing could be seen with the naked eye. The test was repeated after =
the undocking of Discovery on 8.06.98. At 1124UTC Discovery was station =
keeping right in front of the MIR-station while Musabayev and Budarin =
repeated the procedure and again Precourt reported that they did not see =
anything.=20

Let us hope that analyses on earth of the videorecordings and =
photographs will help.=20

Departure of Discovery: During the undocking communications went via =
VHF-channels. This took place during the pass in orbit 70272 =
(1554-1602UTC). After some camera problems the images were transmitted =
via trackingstations in Russia. Altair-2 was not active. During the =
following orbit (70273) Altair-2 was active and images could be seen of =
the autonomously flying Discovery. The crew also transmitted video =
recordings of the farewell party just before the closing of the hatches =
to Discovery.=20

Altair-2 stopped transmitting at 17.23.40UTC, so just before the =
separation burn of Discovery, which took place at 1724UTC. From 1732UTC =
MIR communicated via the VHF channels in the 143 and 130 mc bands.=20

Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202

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<P>MIRNEWS.427&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp=
;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&=
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bsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nb=
sp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=20
9 JUNE 1998</P>
<P>Communications: The crew of Discovery was not able to restore the=20
transmissions of TV images via the Ku-band. Nevertheless the Russians =
did not=20
increase the use of their geostationary satellite. An American press =
release=20
characterized the Russian Altair-2 system as a Spartan system. =
Unfortunately the=20
Russians did not seize the opportunity to show the possibilities of that =
Spartan=20
system by putting this system at the diposal of the STS-91 mission for =
public=20
relation purposes, i.e. TV-live events, also from the Shuttle itself. =
Possibly=20
there also have been problems with that system for on 6.06.1998 =
something was=20
wrong with a TV-link between TsUP and a trackingstation. During a=20
press-conference only voice communications were possible. The TV-reports =
from=20
MIR of which only a few reached us via CNN were relayed by tracking =
stations=20
inside Russia via UHF-channels. This could be derived from the use of =
the=20
command code Anna-86 during VHF communications. These videolinks lasted =
shorter=20
than those via Altair-2 and the quality was not so good and sometimes =
only black=20
and white images were possible. </P>
<P>From the Russian segment of the combination Discovery-MIR the =
Russians=20
communicated with TsUP via their own VHF-channels. Discovery used for =
voice=20
communications with Houston the S-band channel via the TDRS-es. During =
one of=20
the communication windows on 5.06.98 Musabayev tried to get in contact =
with TsUP=20
for a long time. He asked Charlie Precourt to warn TsUP Moscow via one =
of the=20
American channels and this helped. The last months the MIR-crew =
regularly called=20
TsUP in vain for long periods, even via Altair-2. Deteriorated =
motivation of the=20
Capcoms at TsUP? </P>
<P>Andy Thomas: On 5.06.98, so 1 day after the docking of Discovery, =
Andy=20
settled himself into the Shuttle and became a member of STS-91's crew. =
He=20
regularly showed up inside the contours of the MIR-complex, but did no =
longer=20
communicate from there with TsUP Moscow. </P>
<P>Valeriy Viktorovich Ryumin: This leading designer of RKK Energiya and =
former=20
Salyut-6 cosmonaut needed only a few days extra to bring his spaceflight =
record=20
up to 365 days, so a full year. On 5.06.1998 he passed this limit and =
both crews=20
celebrated this jubilee on board MIR. Musabayev offered for this =
opportunity=20
guitar music. All styles were possible: Beatles, Russian- or Kazakh =
folksongs,=20
even that of Vysotskiy. For Ryumin as a highranking official of RKK =
Energiya it=20
was an excellent opportunity to execute an extensive inspection of MIR's =

systems. Musabayev and Budarin were very pleased that this earthling =
could see=20
by his own eyes the situation about which cosmonauts so often =
complained. He was=20
displeased about the enormous mess within the station. In his opinion =
the=20
abundance of useful, but also of superfluous and useles things, makes =
the work=20
for cosmonauts, in particular new ones, extremely difficult. Behind a =
panel he=20
found a lot of rubbish and he asked TsUP permission to get rid of that. =
Among=20
this rubbish were some cables and TsUP did not give him this permission. =
He=20
grumbled a little bit, but did not press the matter for he himself had =
ordered=20
that cosmonauts always have to stick to decisions from flight control. =
During=20
consversations with TsUP about technical matters Musabayev sometimes =
referred to=20
Ryumin. For instance about the problems they had with the installation =
of=20
camera's to document the departure of the Discovery. The brackets near =
certain=20
portholes to fix these camera's did not fit. Ryumin said that the man at =
TsUP=20
had to write this down in his report in red capital letters. </P>
<P>I have been listening to the voices of cosmonauts for some decades =
and it was=20
a real sensation to hear this old stager again via my headphones. It =
felt as if=20
a timemachine had put me back 20 years. &nbsp;</P>
<P>Module Spektr: Almost for a year the experts are struggling along =
with the=20
1000 dollar question how to locate the leakages in the hull of the =
Spektr=20
module. Previous attempts to find these leakages by pumping fluorescent =
gasses=20
through Spektr were unsuccessful. Mission STS-91 gave the last =
opportunity to=20
try this again. The first test was executed on 6.06.1998 during the =
VHF-pass in=20
orbit 70242, between 1756 and 1807UTC. Budarin opened the valve of =
Spektr's=20
hatch and inflated the fluorescent gasses into the module. Musabayev =
gave a=20
count down so that everybody on board of Discovery could be alert with =
camera's=20
and at portholes. During the test Budarin reported the pressures inside =
Spektr.=20
These values were relatively low, not more than 55 MM mercury. Precourt =
reported=20
that nothing could be seen with the naked eye. The test was repeated =
after the=20
undocking of Discovery on 8.06.98. At 1124UTC Discovery was station =
keeping=20
right in front of the MIR-station while Musabayev and Budarin repeated =
the=20
procedure and again Precourt reported that they did not see anything. =
</P>
<P>Let us hope that analyses on earth of the videorecordings and =
photographs=20
will help. </P>
<P>Departure of Discovery: During the undocking communications went via=20
VHF-channels. This took place during the pass in orbit 70272 =
(1554-1602UTC).=20
After some camera problems the images were transmitted via =
trackingstations in=20
Russia. Altair-2 was not active. During the following orbit (70273) =
Altair-2 was=20
active and images could be seen of the autonomously flying Discovery. =
The crew=20
also transmitted video recordings of the farewell party just before the =
closing=20
of the hatches to Discovery. </P>
<P>Altair-2 stopped transmitting at 17.23.40UTC, so just before the =
separation=20
burn of Discovery, which took place at 1724UTC. From 1732UTC MIR =
communicated=20
via the VHF channels in the 143 and 130 mc bands. </P>
<P>Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202</P>
<P></P>
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