Supply Ship To Mir Delayed A Third Time

The launch of an unmanned cargo spaceship hauling food and equipment to the Mir space station was postponed Saturday for the third time.

Mission control gave no explanation for the delay and said no new blast-off date had been set for sending supplies to American astronaut Shannon Lucid and her two Russian crewmates.

The launch of the Progress M-32 cargo ship was stopped Thursday when a computer spotted a problem with the booster rocket. A launch set for July 22 also was canceled.

The delays will hold up the launch of another spacecraft that is to carry two Russian cosmonauts and a French colleague to the Mir orbiting station.

The Russian-French mission was rescheduled from Aug. 14 to Aug. 19 to give the cosmonauts aboard the Mir enough time to unload the Progress cargo before the new mission’s arrival, mission control spokesman Andrei Maiboroda told the Interfax news agency Friday.

Russia’s cash-strapped space program is showing other signs of strain.

Twice this year, the crews of the orbiting Mir were told they would have to stay in space longer than planned because there was no spaceship available to bring them back.