Meanwhile, NASA and Russia have nothing to say.

The German free-flying Inspektor spacecraft malfunctioned today during an operations test outside of Mir. Unfortunately, this failure occurred before a full demonstration of Inspektor's capabilities could be accomplished. Inspektor operations were halted when a problem developed with the spacecraft's star tracker. Early indications, based upon data received by the Mir crew, is that some overheating had occured within the star tracker. Without a functioning star tracker, the spacecraft cannot be commanded to perform any maneuvering burns. Mission Control in Moscow apparently believes that incorrect software commands may have contributed to this malfunction.

Detachment of the Progress tanker (which later deployed the Inspektor) occured without any difficulty. After the cessation of Inspector operations, both the Inspector and the Progress were left in positions safely away from Mir. Inspektor was trailing Mir by about half a kilometer and was flying in formation somewhat above Mir. Once the Mir's crew gets an accurate location of Inspektor, they will probably do a distancing burn to avoid any possible impact. No hazards to Mir or its crew are expected to occur.

Just as we reported last Fall here on NASA Watch.....

Editor's note: Let's hope that reporting fake medical problems will not be one of America's 'lessons learned' from the Shuttle/Mir program.

"Flight Commander Anatoly Solovyev and Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov placed an online order from space via Virtual Emporium for two G6-233 Pentium(R) II systems."

"The NASA, RSA and their respective contractor representatives (the parties) met in Moscow, Russia during October 20-31, 1997. The following represents the agreements made during the meeting."

Looks like they have a special on CO₂ scrubbers and festive holiday oxygen candles this week.

That is what Space News and Associated Press are reporting.

"A CNN spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the news network is in ''very, very, very preliminary discussions''with Russian space officials about sending a reporter to Mir. The news was first reported in this week's issue of the weekly trade journal Space News. (AP) "

Some sources suggest that a urine tank is leaking. But ... we understand that urine is stored aboard Progress in plastic bags under ambient pressure. Hmmm .... Have a look at this memo from 19 June 1996 (featured on the CBS Evening News):

"Analysis suggests that the sides facing the Mir solar array controlling mechanisms were contaminated by leaks from the hydraulic control system. Outward facing bracket surfaces facing the Russian hardware turned brown. The inward surfaces remained white. "

We have been hearing rumors that some folks (here and over there) are considering use of an ICM to deorbit Mir once it is clear that the Service Module will be delivered on-orbit. Other rumors tell of plans to de-orbit Mir in 1999 via three successive Progress flights. Mir would, according to these rumors, be manned until the very end.

Mir Cosmonaut Lazutkin was the first cosmonaut to take part in a major Internet chat.

Gee, what a coincidence... ;-)

"We are in a very serious situation with a virus on all TsUP machines. The Russians have informed us that we have infected their machines as well with something they can't disinfect. "

UPDATE: We have now learned that the BIO3D payload has been activated. It seems that Mir commander Anatoly Solovyev had seen this payload before - in Houston - and had some safety concerns at that time. Seems that he did not know it was coming to Mir. When he saw it again, he wanted to make sure that his concerns had been addressed.

Editor's Note: The commander of any spacecraft should, of course, have broad discretion in matters of safety. But here we have a payload certified to be safe by America (see below), a commander not thoroughly briefed on what is coming to his space station, and a Russian cosmonaut obviously suspicious of what American safety "certification" actually means. Not a good sign, folks.

That was last week. As of today, Moscow has still not given Solovyev approval for Wolf to activate BIO3D on Mir.

Last week, during a press conference aboard the STS-86/Mir complex, Wolf spoke enthusiastically about having just operated BIO3D on Atlantis, and showing his crewmates some of the 3D tissue cultures that had formed.

Before STS-86, when asked what would be lost if Dave Wolf did not go to Mir, NASA officials were quick to highlight BIO3D and all of the tumor culture research Wolf (on of BIO3D's developers) would be doing in space.

What is going on here? Did the payload malfunction? If not, then why is a payload which has passed all American payload safety reviews and operated on a Shuttle, suddenly not safe to operate on Mir? Could the Russians be trying to show that they too can be concerned about the safety process - in this case, ours?

In a statement prepared for his 18 September 1997 testimony before the House Science Committee, Frank Culbertson says:

"Since the beginning of the Program, a very thorough hazard analysis and documentation system has been used. Each side establishes safety requirements to be met by the other. Compliance with these safety requirements is then documented and approved. Joint provisions are developed to respond to any off-nominal situations which can reasonably be anticipated. Any recent anomalies by either side are documented and explained. Thus, NASA provides details on the circumstances and resolution of problems experienced on the Shuttle, while the Russians do the same for problems on the Mir. This process has been extremely helpful in understanding hardware failure histories and in building a level of trust between the technical experts on each side. "

Apparently the crew of Mir forgot to remove one last restraining bolt which holds Progress to Mir. These bolts are used because the older automatic system failed several years ago. The bolt has been removed and separation will be attempted again soon.

We have also recieved word of contamination of another sort. Apparently JSC got a load of Microsoft Word documents the other day from Moscow which were infected with a virus that JSC's detection software missed.

"He [Khrushchev] thought that if the Americans wanted to get our technology and create defenses against it, they would do that anyway. Maybe we could get (technology) in the bargain that would be better for us, my father thought.''

Sergei Khrushchev

With 3 decades of practice, the Russians sure have learned how to manipulate OUR foreign policy to their advantage!

"The crises on the station do not seem to have diminished its advertising potential. "

"Daniel Greenberg demonstrates his bandwagon approach to criticism in his October 1 column on the space program. He takes others' reasoned criticism of Russia's Mir space station to extremes in his attempted assassination of our nation's entire human space flight effort."

Looks like Valery Ryumin just couldn't resist the urge to make one last trip in space. We wonder what value he adds to the mission other than political.

"Gromov tells UPI: ``Ryumin was scheduled to fly to Mir together with Frank Culbertson, but as far as we know Ryumin will be making the farewell trip alone.''

Culbertson was assigned by NASA as co-head of the joint space program.

Gromov says he doesn't know why the veteran astronaut declined the chance to fly to Mir, and says its a shame as the symbolic gesture would have been nice. "

"As Jews around the world celebrate the start of the High Holy Days Wednesday evening, for the first time a Jewish person will mark the holidays aboard the Mir space station."

"Said the 41-year-old doctor, "A number of people warned me of that. I did not make it a secret that I'm Jewish. It just seemed to be a non- issue. They are the most gentle, kind, friendly people you could meet.''

Indeed, we'd like to think that once all is said and done, that remembrance of this subtle event may well be the one thing that persists in our collective consciousness well beyond all of the technical and political accomplishments and challenges of this particular mission.

Frank Culbertson: "The Russians have accomplished a lot in space. Most of that was hidden behind a curtain for a long time. Without the energetic research and reporting of such people as Jim Oberg and others, we would not know a lot about that time period..."

STS-86 Pre-Launch Press Conference, NASA KSC

"...we know the decision to continue our joint participation aboard Mir should not be based on emotions or politics. It should not be based on fear."

When asked at a press conference (after yours) if he agreed with this portion your statement, House Science Committee chair James Sensenbrenner said "NO".

"After speaking personally with NASA Administrator Dan Goldin this morning, I know he feels confident that Mir is safe based on external reviews. While this may be true, I still do not believe there are sufficient benefits to weigh even the smallest risks aboard Mir, and I am disappointed with his decision to replace astronaut Michael Foale with David Wolf at the end of STS-86."

Henry V, Act III, Scene I

Despite the dramatic tension of taking things to the very edge with a public  facade of careful evaluation and consideration at NASA, there was little or no doubt within  your agency that both Tom Stafford's and Tom Young's 'safety' reports would rubber stamp the overwelming  political need to fly Dave Wolf to Mir.

Indeed, if these truly were serious safety reviews, why have their results due on your desk 24 hours before liftoff - while you were jet lagged after a long flight from Russia - with little time to make any reasoned consideration?

At Thursday's press conference you were almost bragging about how little sleep you, Tom Stafford, and Tom Young had in the past few days - and how short a time you gave them to complete these safety 'reports". Dan, this is not the way to convince people that you gave such a serious matter the priority it deserved. Indeed, if it was this important, why wait until the very last minute?

Let's get on with it then, Dan. You've ignored both Congress and even your own Inspector General. As Rep. Sensenbrenner said, it was, (also at your own admission), YOUR  decision to make.

We all sincerely hope you made the right  decision.

Ad astra.

"To my knowledge, no bottom-to-top safety hazard review of each system and component of Mir has ever been done by NASA or the Russian Space Agency. At this time, the safety reviews do not satisfy my request for a comprehensive external safety review to be completed by NASA prior to this launch. I also have not received certification from the NASA Administrator that Mir meets or exceeds U.S. safety standards. "

You have, of course, ignored not only informal requests, but also the amendment enacted into law which called for these safety analyses, one which was affixed to your funding legislation by both Rep. Sensenbrenner and Rep. Brown.

"One conclusion of the Stafford team is that Mr. Wolf is able to pilot the Soyuz rescue vehicle alone, if required. This appears to contradict Phase One Program Director Frank Culbertsonšs sworn testimony before the Science Committee last week that an astronaut needs six to eight months of training and an additional payment by NASA to the Russians for certification as a Soyuz commander neither of which has occurred to my knowledge."

GOLDIN TO BRIEF MEDIA ON STS-86

NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin will brief reporters on the STS-86 flight to Mir at 10 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. The briefing will be held in the auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, Washington, DC. Reporters should enter the building through the west lobby, near the intersection of 4th and E streets.

Goldin's briefing will be followed at 11 a.m. EDT by the STS-86 pre-launch briefing from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL.

Both briefings will be carried on NASA Television, which is broadcast on GE-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees West longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz. - end -

From the 22 September 1997 KSC Space Shuttle Status (1:40 PM EDT):

"A 59-pound replacement computer for the Mir space station arrived at KSC early today for installation into Atlantis on Wednesday during scheduled late stow activities. The STS-86 crew is scheduled to arrive at KSC at about 3:30 p.m."

We were wondering why it weighed 59 pounds !

"It's a very complex station, 130 tons flying around the Earth already in its 12th year. Failures can happen," he said. "We meet unusual circumstances every day. So we are completely not surprised when five planes crash in the United States over six days." - Yuri Koptev.

"Koptev stressed that now that all the leading space powers have pooled their efforts in one project "hoping for the competitiveness of the "Mir-2" project is simply wrong".

Editor's note: Yikes! Doesn't this guy have anyone to tell him what is going on!? When I see comments like this I'm reminded of the fight scene between the Black Knight and King Arthur in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"

Of course not. Three computer failures in less than a month, no life support or guidance for days at a time.....

"Why send anyone else on to a space station that is manifestly and clearly unsafe to all who watch the evening news?"

"American astronaut and Mir space station veteran Jerry Linenger is reportedly being recruited to run for the congressional seat now held by House Minority Whip David Bonior. "

Editor's note: Early in his questioning of Frank Culbertson at last Thursday's hearings, House Science Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner quoted my 11 June 1997 NASA Watch Summary of the 11th annual meeting of the NASA Alumni League. In particular, he referred to a question I had asked of Office of Safety and Mission Assurance AA Fred Gregory:

"At the opening of his presentation on Mir, Gregory said that "it is reasonable and acceptable to continue the Phase 1 [Shuttle/Mir] program" and that "the environment on Mir meets our requirements and is safe and healthy, and the crew can come home". Later, when I asked Gregory if 'the current configuration of Mir on-orbit met or exceeded the environmental, life support, safety, and contamination requirements levied upon all US spacecraft, he began a detailed description of the differences between the US and Russian programs, eventually returning to my question saying "the answer is No".

"Instead of a proper, traditional safety review, we are seeing claims of "safety" based on getting away -- so far -- with taking risks (both known and unknown). But "dodging bullets" can lead to the delusion that one is bullet proof, even though it's more like "Russian roulette".

"A U.S. satellite zipped by the space station, coming within 500 yards of Mir and forcing its three occupants into an escape capsule because they feared a collision, Russian officials said Tuesday. "

NOTE: Yuri Koptev has suddenly gotten himself some good local press. Curious how it emerges the day after he is accused of involvement with aiding Iran....

"You are the senior architect of U.S.-Russian cooperation in space, so I hope that you will quickly determine the accuracy of these reports. If Mr. Koptev is indeed involved in arms deals with Iran, I would urge the Administration to denounce his actions in the strongest possible terms and immediately insist on his removal from his RSA post. Further, if there is evidence that the Russian government played a role in this incident, that must be handled with equal vigor.

Nothing short of this will help to ensure continued support for Russia's role in the Space Station. You must not allow corruption among Russian officials to threaten our nation's space program."

We sincerely hope that these reports are not true. The potential consequences are not trivial. Ask yourselves this: regardless of whether this particular set of reports are true, they are certain to pop up on a regular basis as post-communist Russia continues to evolve. Sooner or later something of real signifigance is bound to occur. How would the US apply pressure on Russia if a real threat arose sometime in the next decade - while, at the same time, both countries are joined at the hip on a multi-billion dollar space station program? Anyone who has seen the film "2010" will recall the absurdity that could intrude upon mission operations.

We pulled off the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project when the USSR was at the zenith of its geopolitical prowess. We seem to recall that further activities (such as proposed Apollo/Salyut visits) were stiffled by political wind shifts (invasions and pesky things like that).

Is this deja vu all over again?

"A furious official at Mission Control told United Press International, ``They are heroes and saved the station, and now they are being fined for that.'' The official, who wishes to remain anonymous, says fining them 30 percent means future crews will not want to take risks or make decisions on their own.

The official said, ``This decision could mean that one day, when another accident happens, they will evacuate the station rather than try to save it, because they will not want to take the blame and have their salaries docked.'' "

If an American breaks something in the Russian Service Module who gets fined? Are the rules the same in the FGB which Russia built but we bought and own? What if the Russians sell some of their crew slots (as is rumoured) to non-Russians? Yikes!!!

Perhaps we should have flown Boris Yeltsin's lawyer to Mir after all - and Bill Clinton could fly Leon Furth to ISS !!

"Despite the common claim that being on Mir means "invaluable experience" for NASA astronauts, it turns out that if the experience doesn't fit what officials want the public to believe, the experience is hidden away. A glaring example of this is how Jerry Linenger REALLY felt when he made his E.V.A. on April 29. Here's how he described it during a debriefing session at NASA on June 6:"

Note: When Mir's computers - and its GN&C systems are shut down, the Soyuz is called into service to provide these services and stabilize Mir. There is only a finite amount of propellant aboard the Soyuz - and some of it is needed to be held in reserve for its 'lifeboat' role. We wonder how often this Mir GN&C backup role can be played by this particular Soyuz vehicle before it reaches its minimal fuel reserves - especially after the 7 August Mir fly-around which also ate into these fuel reserves.

These guys have done a really nice job of capturing this EVA as it happens. Too bad NASA's PAO (Public Avoidance Office) can't do this - You know, of course, it would take a committee, a control board, change requests, and a bunch of forms to fill out....UPDATE: We neglected to mention that NASA used to actually do somethings similar to what the Orlando Sentinel now does. Not any more. Good ideas don't last long at NASA PAO.

"Despite the common claim that being on Mir means "invaluable experience" for NASA astronauts, it turns out that if the experience doesn't fit what officials want the public to believe, the experience is hidden away. A glaring example of this is how Jerry Linenger REALLY felt when he made his E.V.A. on April 29. Here's how he described it during a debriefing session at NASA on June 6:"

Editorial note: It now looks like the previous crew of Mir is going to be blamed - and fined for the Progress collision and the subsequent damage caused to Mir. NASA is fond of saying that one of the key benefits America has derived from the Shuttle/Mir Program has been increased operational experience gained from participating in the running of a space station.

We wonder how this particular aspect of Russian space station management is going to be applied on the International Space Station - i.e. when something goes wrong you publicly blame the crew and then make them pay a financial penalty.

There are, of course, benefts to this approach: you don't have to admit that inevitable errors occured while trying to maintain a crippled space station for political reasons and a hearty influx of hard currency amidst a crumbling space infrastructure.

Note for Mike Foale: Be careful not to break anything .... you might get a bill.

"We are aware that the Russians have successfully surmounted serious problems on the Mir. Nevertheless, ongoing problems on the Mir are occurring at a time when the Russian government may not be in a position to provide adequate financial and technical support to enable the aging space station to operate safely. Moreover, these problems are exacerbated by the Russians' failure to timely or fully communicate with NASA. Without knowledge of the problems on Mir or its operating systems, NASA cannot fully prepare our astronauts for their mission. "

"When the Shuttle/Mir program began, the basic safety of the Mir was accepted based upon a known history of apparent safe operations. It appears in recent months that the risk level associated with Mir operations has increased. NASA must conduct credible risk assessments to fully account for the safety standards it now applies to Phase I programs. Those assessments must be based upon understanding the risks involved weighed against the expected benefits of continued operations."

"Russia Monday unveiled another plan to get crew hands onto the MIR spacecraft, saying it was considering sending a top government official into space to spend time on the orbital station.

Under the plan, the secretary of President Boris Yeltsin's policy-making Defence Council, Yury Baturin, could be launched into space next year, becoming the first orbiting bureaucrat in Russian history, said Andrei Maiboroda, deputy head of the Star City cosmonaut training center. "

NOTE: Yury Baturin was fired by Boris Yeltsin 2 days after this story hit the wires. Coincidence?

NASA is right: there are many operational lessons to be learned from the Russians: bureaucrats do not belong in space. Hey Dan, isn't John Glenn still trying to hitch a Shuttle ride?

"Russia Monday unveiled another plan to get crew hands onto the MIR spacecraft, saying it was considering sending a top government official into space to spend time on the orbital station.

Under the plan, the secretary of President Boris Yeltsin's policy-making Defence Council, Yury Baturin, could be launched into space next year, becoming the first orbiting bureaucrat in Russian history, said Andrei Maiboroda, deputy head of the Star City cosmonaut training center. "

Are we missing something? Oh well, there is a bright side - that's one less lawyer on Earth....

"Vinogradov, a rookie cosmonaut, is the one supposed to be entering Spektr. "

"Even though it is a great challenge and learning experience to repair Mir, the overlap between keeping Mir operational and getting ISS off the ground appears to be less complementary and more exclusive to the international program. Many times, an investment has to be redeemed and the proceeds placed into a new, better performing investment.

With the highly dedicated and determined professionals that Russia can put into the ISS endeavour, I think its about time to make that change."

With all the talk of how dangerous Friday's internal spacewalk or IVA may or may not be, people are swift to compare it to other notable spacewalks. We wonder why the news media has not made a point of recalling an earlier American space station repair -- the rather risky repairs made by Pete Conrad and the Skylab 2 crew - and the rather imaginative support given to them by the folks at MSFC and JSC.

Just as people were ready to write of Skylab after being damaged during launch, these folks brought it back to near perfect condition.

There is, of course, a major difference between fixing a brand new space station and trying to pump a few more months of life into a vehicle 6 years past its designed retirement date. But the can-do attitude is identical.

While some of us may not think that Mir is worth any further repair efforts, let's suspend those differences as the repairs begin and not diminish the dedication of those who are potentially going to risk their lives trying to fix Mir.

This article makes some rather cogent points about the repairs of the near-dead Salyut-7 space station. This rather amazing feat also seems to have been lost in the glare that surrounds Mir's current problems.

"The task is pressing. We must remove Mir from orbit. This will be done next year," Vladimir Petrov, first deputy finance minister said. "You see, there have already been a series of breakdowns, one failure, another failure."

It was not clear if Petrov was expressing his personal opinion or outlining a growing consensus among Russian policymakers. ...... Valery Ryumin, who heads Russia's cooperation with NASA on Mir, added: "A bureaucrat (Petrov) can say whatever nonsense he wants. I don't even want to hear this nonsense."

"There's almost a constant, almost hourly conversation on Mir," Jeff Smith, a spokesman for White House science adviser Jack Gibbons, said by telephone Tuesday. "Gibbons is doing daily memos to the president, sometimes twice a day."

"Clearly Dan, it is time to end the Shuttle/Mir missions. Let STS-86 be the last. Safety issues notwithstanding, with the loss of Spektr, there is little science capability left on Mir to which an American can devote their time. We have more than enough data on the long term human habitation of space to build the ISS. All that is left is for the inhabitants of Mir to do is float from one broken system to another."

The sole remaining purpose of Mir is to be repaired. No purpose is served by sending anyone else to live on it. Let's move forward, apply the lessons we've all learned from the Shuttle/Mir program, and focus on building a Space Station for a change.

Oh yes.... what are the Russians going to do with Mir when they are done with it?

And who will pay the bill?

Question: Aren't we going to be operating the International Space Station in 2000? Why would Russia want to have Mir operating at the same time? Indeed, how could they possibly support operations on TWO space stations when they clearly have problems supporting just one?

Well-informed observers, confirmed by private Moscow sources, have told NASA Watch that Russian Air Force Captain Salizan Sharipov, 33, a jet pilot and cosmonaut since 19115 will fly aboard STS-89 which will dock with Mir. Capt. Sharipov was born in what is now Kirghizia, is Uzbek by ethnic registration, and holds Russian Federation citizenship. Current Mir Flight Director Vladimir Solovev was also considered for this flight.

We have also learned that Valery Ryumin (Solovev's boss) is being seriously considered for flying on STS-91 - the last scheduled mission to Mir. Frank Culbertson has long been rumored to be in line to command the STS-91 mission.

A reliable private Russian space expert tells me that a new class of 10 Russian cosmonauts has been formed. There are 2 civilian 'flight engineers' and 8 pilots. Of those eight, 3 are sons of former cosmonauts! NOTE: No children of American astronauts have ever become astronauts.

The Russian space program has approved 8 military candidates and 2 civilians from "RKK Energiya" (the firm that manufactures and operates Russia's manned space vehicles) to enter corresponding cosmonaut detachments. They are: Dmitriy Kondrat'yev, Yuri Lonchakov, Oleg Moshkin, Roman Romanenko, Aleksandr Skvortsov, Maksim Surayev, Konstantin Val'kov and Sergey Volkov from the Air Force and Air Defense, and Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Skripochka from Energiya. The soure for all of this is Igor Lissov, Manager, Foreign Information, VideoCosmos Co. "Novosti Kosmonavtiki (News of Cosmonautics)" magazine.

"....We also need detailed consumables planning for the next year since the current water situation aboard Mir appears to represent a failure of the planning activity, and a violation of the jointly signed "Mir Systems Required for U.S. crew to remain on Mir."

" The message I am seeking to convey is that it is necessary for us to become much more active participants in the planning, review, and execution of operations that affect our program on the Mir. As I hope you have also noted, I believe there is significant mutual benefit to our involvement, as each side has its own heritage and perspective to contribute to the work, and virtually every joint activity helps pave the way for greater trust and cooperation during the International Space Station Program."

Check out the STS-86 crew website (This is NOT a NASA PAO website!) Specifically, checkout the crew's very nicely done running commentary of news from Mir. According to this website the Progress tanker hit Mir more than once. We wonder why the crew seems to be aware of this information yet we hear nothing from NASA - or Russia officially. This should all become a bit clearer when the new crew of Mir does an external evaluation in a few days.

"The above is a report I have drafted on the MCC-M response to the power loss incident which delayed the Mir EVA. It starts with what I think was a recoverable error (unpluging a key attitude sensor), but inaction by the ground allows the situation to deteriorate into a major problem. It is not completely clear from the information available, but it appears the ground may have even aggravated the situation with an incorrect quaternion uplink."

---

"Remaining work/unresolved concerns:

Assess implications for the ability of the Russian ground control team to safely operate a manned spacecraft (Mir, ISS); implications for launching subsequent Long Duration Crewmembers."

---

"We have the greatest confidence in Russia's ability to ...."

Generic NASA response to any  criticism of Russia

"[S]ince the French have cited several reasons to decline the participation of their crew member, and the Soyuz due to return to Earth next month will have one open seat, I propose that Mr. Foale be among the crew members that return to Earth aboard the Soyuz."

On 1 July, the crew of Mir reported to mission control in Moscow that they had observed "flakes" or some sort of particulate matter outside of Spektr and that the release of this material seems to have coincided with a loud "clapping" noise. Russian officials speculate that this may be material released by a radiator mounted on the external surface of Spektr which may have sustained some damage during the Progress 34 impact. Our sources tell us that concerns have been raised that the materials which may be leaking from Spektr could be either polymethyl silicone or ammonia. These materials are known to be used in the cooling systems of other Mir modules. Of concern to NASA is the possibility that such a leak may pose an external contamination threat during Space Shuttle dockings.

In a 5 July 1997 wire story by Stephen Young of Reuters " "New Mir Incident Raises Concerns About Repair", NASA officials are reported to have not been aware of this incident earlier this week. Our sources note that NASA was aware of this incident as early as 1 July.

Frank Culbertson has long been rumored to be in line to command STS-91, the last scheduled visit to Mir. Also rumoured is that current Mir Flight Director Vladimir Solovev will fly on STS-89 and that Valery Ryumin (Solovev's boss) will fly with Culbertson on STS-91.

Yesterday morning at 5:20 AM EDT a Progress tanker crashed into the side of Mir's Spektr module. There is a hole in the side of Spektr which is estimated to be several inches in size. The crew is currently in no immediate danger.

The Spektr module has been isolated from the rest of Mir. Although one solar array was damaged, the entire assembly of photovoltaic arrays on Spektr has been taken offline. This group of arrays provides approximately 1,300 watts of electrical power, about a half of Mir's total capacity. NASA and RSA are looking at the cascade effects of such a power loss and what it means for continued Mir Operations. Of concern is whether the gyros will function to stablize Mir and how to orient Mir so as to most fully illuminate the PV arrays still in operation.

There is no longer any air in Spektr, the temperature inside is low, and it is likley that all of the biomedical research hardware (the prime scientific reason for Phase 1 Mir/Shuttle operations) has been ruined.

In a CNN interview yesterday afternoon, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, House Science Committee chairman, renewed his call for NASA to certify that Mir meets or exceeds safety standards for US spacecraft - and that "Mr. Goldin put his name on the dotted line" of such certification. When asked if more Americans should be sent to Mir, Sensenbrenner replied that he couldn't support a decision if it cannot be certified that Mir is safe. He also openly speculated whether the science being done on Mir justified the risks being taken to keep people aboard.

We have received word that NASA's Associate Administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance, Fred Gregory, reopened his safety study of Mir last week. This was done, in part, because of public comments made by Mir astronaut Jerry Linenger about conditions on Mir as well as information which began to circulate internally at JSC regarding Linenger's official debriefings. Apparently, all of Linenger's concerns were not made available to Gregory's team when they were performing their review, hence the impetus to reopen the review.

Rep. Sensenbrenner noted today that the 3 post-fire 'safety' studies recently performed by NASA (Culbertson, Gregory, and Stafford) did not look at the safety of keeping people on Mir at all. Instead, these reports only addressed the safety of launching shuttle missions to Mir.

In light of the recent collision on Mir, and Rep. Sensenbrenner's renewed request for a formal safety certification of Mir habitability, we'd like to know when the revised safety report from Mr. Gregory's office is going to be issued - and whether this report will actually address whether the current on-orbit configuration of Mir meets or exceeds US safety requirements levied upon US manned spacecraft.

Jerry Linenger is in the midst of being debriefed regarding his time on Mir. We have received reports that he is speaking his mind - and that NASA is going to great lengths to keep his thoughts under wraps - as they have been doing with debriefings on John Blaha and Shannon Lucid's experiences on Mir.

Indeed, if you check some recent press stories, Linenger, much to his credit, is being rather candid and honest about what he went through up there. From what we have learned thus far, he is rather concerned about the way NASA played down what actually happened on Mir (fire, etc.).

Question to NASA: Are you willing to release the full, un-abridged text of ALL of Linenger's debriefings regarding his experiences on Mir - and those of Blaha, Lucid, and Thagard? If not, why not?

Just what is it you are so paranoid about releasing? And just how long do you expect this information to stay under wraps? Spaceflight is dangerous. We all know that. It will always be that way. Yet we should still do it - of that there is no doubt.

Has the potential political risk of embarassing Russia become that important that you try and hide the truth?