Russians Delay Mir Repair Mission

Russian Space Agency officials Friday postponed by a week a risky repair mission aboard the crippled Mir space station, intensifying concerns about the viability of salvaging the problem-plagued craft.

U.S. astronaut Michael Foale and two Russian cosmonauts have already spent 10 days scrambling to keep Mir aloft since the worst accident in the space station’s 11-year history, and the decision to postpone the repair job means a prolongation of emergency conditions on board.

Officials at mission control north of Moscow also disclosed that the Mir crewmen have so far been unable to correct a malfunction in the space station’s navigation system that has twice cut power to the gyroscopes that keep the solar panels that power Mir turned toward the sun.

The crewmen must now fire Mir’s rocket engines, consuming precious fuel, to keep the craft properly oriented. Russian officials said they expected to have the battery-powered navigation system back in service today.

An unmanned cargo capsule lifted off this morning to bring fresh supplies of fuel, food and water, as well as special equipment needed to restore the space station to working order.

As much as 40% of the space station’s power supply was lost when an unmanned cargo capsule crashed into Mir during a manual docking experiment June 25. The collision punctured the Spektr research module attached to Mir, causing it to depressurize and forcing the crewmen to seal it off from the rest of the space station, thus isolating four of 10 solar panels used to power Mir. Spektr also had been Foale’s sleeping quarters and the NASA work area.

That loss of power has brought a halt to all scientific research aboard Mir, transforming the world’s only orbital laboratory into a holding tank.

Once the Progress capsule docks with Mir on Monday and its cargo is unloaded, the three spacemen are to begin practicing the dicey repair maneuvers that will try to reconnect the isolated solar panels with the station’s main power grid.

But the operation will mean sending the two Russian cosmonauts, Mir commander Vasily Tsibliyev and flight engineer Alexander Lazutkin, into the dark, cramped and depressurized Spektr module.

The cosmonauts have openly expressed doubts they will be able to make the repairs in their bulky spacesuits.

The work had been expected to start shortly after the Progress capsule arrives, but officials at mission control said it has been put off until July 17 or 18.

“The spacewalk that had originally been scheduled for the 11th of this month had to be postponed for a week in order to test-run the repair procedures on Earth,” said Viktor Blagov, a deputy flight administrator here.

Another mission official said the cosmonauts will need time to practice with the tools being delivered by the Progress capsule.