Mir Safely Receives Repair Gear

An unmanned cargo craft full of repair equipment docked at the stricken Mir space station Monday, overcoming an important hurdle to the station’s repair.

Television pictures of the successful docking were transmitted from the cargo ship, Progress, to the mission control center here outside Moscow.

Progress, which blasted off from the Baikonur launching complex in Kazakstan two days ago, docked at 9:59 a.m. Moscow time (10:59 p.m. Sunday, Pacific Daylight Time).

Although the docking went smoothly, space officials said the hatch of the Progress cargo vessel would not be opened until today. The opening of the hatches, and the unloading of the cargo by the station’s crew of two Russians and one American, are being delayed so that Mir has more time to recharge its solar batteries.

Limited power has been a major problem for Mir ever since June 25, when a collision with another spacecraft forced the crew to disconnect vital power cables. Progress is carrying equipment to restore much of the lost power.

Although docking is normally a routine operation, Monday’s event was a signal one for Mir, which has experienced numerous mishaps and been described by American critics as unsafe.

It was Mir’s attempt to dock with an earlier Progress cargo craft that resulted in the accident on June 25, which punched a hole in the station’s Spektr module.