Spacewalking cosmonauts to test sealant tool on leaky Mir

May 5, 2000
Web posted at: 1:25 PM EDT (1725 GMT)

By staff reports

MOSCOW (CNN) -- Two cosmonauts began preparing this week for a walk outside the space station Mir. They will perform numerous tasks, including testing sealant equipment to coat the exterior of the station, which has a microscopic crack through which oxygen has escaped.

Mir received a new lease of life when international investors came up with $30 million to prevent the scheduled retirement of the 14-year-old station. MirCorp, which leases Mir from Russia, wants to turn the orbiting outpost into a space hotel.

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Additionally, the two Russians will inspect the base station core, the oldest module of the Russian-built and owned station, as well as one of the solar arrays on the Kristall module, according to MirCorp.

Mission commander Sergei Zalyotin and flight engineer Alexander Kalery on Wednesday tested their arm muscle tone and studied notes for the spacewalk.

The Netherlands-based MirCorp hopes to turn a profit operating the outpost. The company said it is in discussions with several corporations about advertising deals and with scientists interested in conducting experiments.

MirCorp plans to keep the cosmonauts onboard for at least 45 days to investigate the station and assess any need for repairs.

If MirCorp cannot raise adequate funding or interest during the mission, the pair could be the last crew to live aboard the space station. The station has been empty since it was placed on autopilot eight months ago.

Russia, determined to pursue an independent space program, decided to go ahead with a new mission after obtaining the funds from international investors.

Mir, plagued by accidents in recent years, was to have been scrapped this year. The plan was to send it plunging toward Earth so that it would burn up in the atmosphere.

One month ago, the two cosmonauts blasted off from Earth for Mir on the first privately funded manned space mission. Last week, a Russian Progress M1-2 cargo ship with fuel and food arrived at the station.

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Focus: MIR
July 1997

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Office of Space Flight - Mir

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