Strange Mir Report
Don Horton (dhorton@vgernet.net)
Mon, 7 Jul 1997 16:53:02 +0200
Have heard nothing about this other than from NBC. Can anyone
confirm the story?
> MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
>
>
>CONCERNS ABOUT SPACEWALK
>
>A previously undisclosed incident aboard Mir has given rise to new concerns
>about the spacewalk planned to restore its power.
>
>Cosmonauts last Tuesday reported hearing thumps and seeing something leaking
>overboard from a damaged module on the space station.
>
>We are very concerned about what was in that module, what might have ruptured,
>and what the impact might be on the suited crew members,veteran astronaut Frank
>Culbertson, who runs NASAs missions to Mir, told a news conference on
Saturday.
>
>
>The space station crew reported hearing thumps on Tuesday from inside the
>Spektr science module that lost pressure and had to be sealed off after a
>cargo craft plowed into the station on June 25.
>
>
>The incident went unreported by NASA until the news conference Saturday. It was
>originally monitored by radio from the Netherlands by Chris Berg, a Dutch space
>expert.
>
>We heard some dull claps or knocks, Mir commander Vasily Tsibliev told the
>Russian mission control, according to Berg. We saw a big cloud of very little
>white flakes near (Spektr). Tsibliev then asked flight controllers to check if
>fuel was leaking from the station. The following day, Mir flight engineer
>Alexander Lazutkin said there had been no further signs of venting from the
>damaged module, according to Berg.
>
>A senior official at Russian Mission Control confirmed Saturday there had been
>a mystery leak from the Spektr science module five days ago and said experts
>were sure it was not fuel. Only one thing is clear... it was not fuel, a senior
>communications specialist told Reuters on condition he not be identified. But
>apart from that no one has an answer yet to this mystery.
>
>The specialist said experts were trying to analyze information from the three-
>man crew. We do not have any information on the situation inside the Spektr
>module, he said. Measurements show there have been no other leaks in the other
>modules and sections of the station.
>
>The Associated Press contributed to this report.
******************************************************************************
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