All’s Quiet On The Orbiting Front Astronaut Says Mir Is Running Smoothly, Has Time For Science

U.S. astronaut David Wolf said Friday that Russia’s Mir space station likely will not require intense safety scrutiny when he is replaced by NASA colleague Andrew Thomas late next month. The 41-year-old physician and engineer has experienced little trouble during his stay on Mir, which began in September.

Earlier this month, Thomas, 45, completed training in Russia for what will be a four-month tour on the orbiting outpost. He will become the last in a succession of seven Americans to serve on the Russian station.

“You know how your car goes in cycles, a lot of things break and you fix them, and it runs real great for awhile,” Wolf told a news conference by satellite link from Mir. “I think we are seeing a cycle like that now. I see no reason to think that any catastrophic event is more likely now than it was five, eight, 10 years ago. I feel very safe.”

Congress asked for a special investigation by NASA’s inspector general after Mir was struck by an out-of-control Russian cargo capsule on June 25, with U.S. astronaut Mike Foale aboard. Earlier in the year, with astronaut Jerry Linenger among its crew, the station experienced a flash fire and a series of life support system breakdowns. Just prior to Wolf’s mission, the station suffered a series of guidance computer problems that interrupted electrical power generation.

When critics charged the outpost was too old and that the Russians lacked the finances to maintain it safely, NASA administrator Dan Goldin began a pair of 11th-hour safety reviews before authorizing Wolf’s flight.

Wolf and his Russian hosts, Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov, have experienced some problems with guidance computers, but none of the life-threatening drama experienced by Foale and Linenger.

“Personally, I don’t think it will be necessary to go through such a large endeavor again, unless some new issues were raised,” Wolf said as he wrapped up his 11th week on Mir.

In an interview this week with NASA TV, Thomas said he looks forward to his journey. “I don’t anticipate the kinds of problems we’ve seen in the past,” he said.

Wolf said the near-normal operations have permitted him to carry out an ambitious research agenda, including work with an experimental bioreactor, a device that is artificially culturing three-dimensional kidney and nerve tissues. The work is intended to develop procedures involved in generating organs for transplant.

NASA has given Wolf permission to prepare for a spacewalk with Solovyev that is tentatively planned for Jan. 12. However, the space agency will not make a final decision on the excursion to retrieve an external experiment package until after the first of the year.

The collection of optical materials was attached to the exterior of Mir by Linenger during a late April spacewalk.

Meanwhile, NASA has completed its repairs of a dent in the left payload bay door of the shuttle Endeavour. The damage occurred last weekend at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida when a weld failed on an external brace fitted to the outside of the door.

Endeavour is scheduled to be moved to a Kennedy launching pad next week, where it will be prepared for a Jan. 20 mission to Mir that will feature the exchange of Thomas for Wolf.

The lift off was delayed at least five days earlier this week in response to a request from the Russians. The time will permit them to launch a supply capsule to Mir during the final week of the year and allow Solovyev and Vinogradov to conduct subsequent spacewalks. During those excursions they plan to repair a leaky seal on an air lock hatch and deploy tools that will be used by a future crew to repair the station’s Spektr module. Spektr’s hull was breached by the June collision.