Soviets Complete Refueling of Space Station in Orbit
Two Soviet cosmonauts have completed the refueling of the orbiting space station Mir, Moscow radio reported Thursday.
Cmdr. Yuri Romanenko and Flight Engineer Alexander Laveikin, who blasted off in a Soyuz TM-2 spacecraft Feb. 6, had unloaded the fuel from a Progress-27 cargo transporter which docked with Mir last month, it said.
Moscow radio did not make it clear if the cosmonauts had also finished unloading food, water and air supplies, as well as equipment for scientific experiments, which were also on board Progress-27.
The cargo transporter will soon separate from Mir and burn up in the earth’s outer atmosphere, it said.
Western experts expect the cosmonauts to remain in space for up to 290 days in an attempt to set a space endurance record. The previous record of 237 days was set by three Soviet cosmonauts in 1984.
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