Cosmonauts boost Mir's orbit

On April 6, the cosmonauts opened the hatch to Mir for the first time in eight months

April 14, 2000
Web posted at: 11:27 AM EDT (1527 GMT)

(CNN) -- The crew of the Russian space station Mir is settling in after raising the station's orbit and checking it for airtightness, a news agency reported.

Since arriving April 6, Russian cosmonauts Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kaleri have reactivated Mir's life support and thermoregulation systems and adjusted its communications. The cosmonauts told Russian Mission Control that they felt well and that the station was functioning normally, the Itar-TASS news agency said.

Mir had been functioning in automatic mode for eight months until the crew's arrival. The new mission is the first ever funded by private investors. Netherlands-based MirCorp agreed to provide the money in return for the right to use the station for commercial ventures.

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Cult 3-D Models of Mir and Soyuz
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Mir Space Station

On Friday the crew was to work on systems that send measurements to Earth, replace dust filters and continue an experiment to monitor geophysical activity on Earth, Itar-TASS said.

On Tuesday, the crew used the engines of a docked Progress spacecraft to raise the station's orbit by 10 kilometers (6.2 miles). They also celebrated Cosmonauts Day, the anniversary of the first manned spaceflight, by talking to their families and journalists through a video hookup, according to MirCorp.

Soyuz rocket docks with Mir
April 6, 2000
Cosmonaut docking with Mir under way
April 5, 2000
First privately funded manned space mission blasts off for Mir
April 4, 2000
Technology - Russians say key space station component to launch in July
February 11, 2000
Mir to stay aloft with International Space Station hardware
January 20, 2000

MIR Corporation
Office of Space Flight - Mir
NASA Shuttle-Mir Web

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