Attempt to launch a probe towards Mars. The launch went well, but the fourth stage motor burnt for only 45s of the planned 240s. The stage remained in Earth orbit. However Kamanin notes that it was good that the launch of the basic vehicle was a success - it gave the visiting female cosmonauts confidence in the rocket they will have to ride.

President Johnson announced approval for the Department of Defense's $1.5-billion Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). At a White House news conference, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced approval for the Department of Defense's development of the $1.5-billion Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). Such a program, the President said, would bring 'new knowledge about what man is able to do in space.' Further, MOL 'will enable us to relate that ability to the defense of America.'

President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he had approved the Defense Department plans for the development of a Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) that would cost $1. 5 billion. The Air Force was to continue its management of the MOL program. Douglas Aircraft Company was to design and build the spacecraft that would be boosted into orbit by the Titan IIIM version of the Titan IIIC space launch vehicle.

Spacecraft 011 was essentially a Block I spacecraft with the following exceptions: couches, crew equipment, and the cabin postlanding ventilation were omitted; and three auxiliary batteries, a mission control programmer, four cameras, and flight qualification instrumentation were added.

Of six primary test objectives assigned to the mission, the objectives for the environmental control, electrical power, and communications subsystems were not completely satisfied. All other spacecraft test objectives were successfully accomplished.

LtGeneral Kenneth W. Schultz assumed command of SAMSO from LtGeneral Samuel C. Phillips who was reassigned to head the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort George Meade, Maryland. General Schultz had been Deputy Chief of Staff/ Systems at Headquarters AFSC since August 1971 and previous to that had served as SAMSO's Deputy for Minuteman from June 1967 through August 1971 and as Deputy for Ballistic Missile Reentry Systems (D/BMRS) at Ballistic Systems Division from July 1965 to June 1967.

Experimental commsat. SIRIO (Satellite Italiano Ricerca Industriale Orientata). Launch time 2350:00 GMT. Geographical longitude of geostationary orbit 15 deg W. SIRIO is a spin stabilized geostationary experimental communications satellite. Characteristics of satellite: Weight at launch 398 kg, in orbit 218 kg. Configuration - cylindrical, height 1.981m, diameter 1.433 m, nominal life two years. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit over the Atlantic Ocean at 15 deg W in 1977-1981; over the Atlantic Ocean 25 deg W in 1981-1983; over the Indian Ocean 65 deg E in 1983-1985 As of 4 September 2001 located at 86.65 deg E drifting at 0.265 deg E per day. As of 2007 Mar 11 located at 75.38E drifting at 0.003E degrees per day.

Chemical Systems Division of United Technologies Corporation test fired a 5 1/2 segment solid rocket motor at its Coyote Test Facility at San Jose, California. This was the first test of the motor, and it was entirely successful. The 5 1/2 segment motor was to be used with the new Titan III 34D launch vehicle.

Operation of telephone and telegraph radiocommunications and transmission of television programmes. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 45 deg E in 1983-1987 As of 28 August 2001 located at 174.92 deg W drifting at 7.555 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 42.12E drifting at 7.563W degrees per day.

The FGB tug's multiple docking manoeuvres in April 1987 had cut into its already-reduced propellant supply. Unable to deorbit itself to a controlled burn-up in the atmosphere, the FGB was instead commanded to boost itself into a storage orbit 40 km above Mir. From there its orbit decayed until it made an uncontrolled re-entry.

Unmanned resupply vessel to Mir. Failed to dock with Mir on 27 Aug 1994. A second automatic docking attempt on 30 Aug 1994 also failed and the Progress collided with the Kvant module. A third and final attempt, manually controlled by Mir commander Yuriy Malenchenko, was successful on 2 Sep 1994 13:30:28 GMT. The Mir commander and flight engineer, Yuriy Malenchenko and Talgat Musabaev, made a spacewalk on 9 Sep 1994 to inspect the damage to the Kvant module made when the Progress collided with Kvant. Undocked on 4 Oct 1994 18:55:52 GMT, leaving the rear docking port free for Soyuz TM-20. Destroyed in reentry over the Pacific at 38.4 deg S, 137.4 deg W,on 4 Oct 1994 22:43:00 GMT. Total free-flight time 8.12 days. Total docked time 32.23 days.

Singapore-Taiwan-1 Matra Marconi Space Eurostar 2000 class satellite to provide communications for Singapore Telecom and Chunghwa Telecom of Taiwan. Geostationary at 88.0 degrees E. Positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 88 deg E in 1998-1999 As of 5 September 2001 located at 88.04 deg E drifting at 0.009 deg W per day. As of 2007 Mar 10 located at 88.05E drifting at 0.007W degrees per day.

In fact the description 'routine' does not fully cover the activities on board in this period. The major parts of the work are aimed at the preparation of the Mir-space station for the upcoming unmanned status. All available windows for radio communications are fully utilised, and when there are no conversations the Packet Radio is red-hot, for the stream of radiograms with a lot of instructions and recommendations does not decrease. Often the cosmonauts speak with TsUP during the P/R circular saw rattles. Most of the subjects in those radiograms can be determined by the questions of the cosmonauts or supplements or changes given by TsUP.

On 23.08 the SO, the docking compartment attached to the module Kristall, was conserved and closed. The conservation of the module Priroda had been put back to 25.08.99, which means that thereafter no experiments can be executed with equipment installed in that module.

The experiments Dakon (convection experiment) and Alice-2 (a fluid experiment) have been active until 24.08. Observations with the Lidar Alisa were concluded on 19.08.99 and the gathered data were copied to cassettes for retrieval to earth.

Fortunately on request by CNES the return of the crew had been put back from 23 to 28.08, for there still has a lot of work to be done.

The freighter Progress-M42, docked to the complex, is fully loaded with all what is superfluous. Among them also containers with urine. This urine cannot be used any more to regenerate technical water, for the SRVU, the system for this regeneration, had also to be switched off. The most important part of the activities in this stage is the switching off of all systems which are not needed during the unmanned status. For instance on 24.08 the cosmonauts had to check whether the furnace Krater had been switched off.

In the next months the Progress-M42 will now and then alter the orbit of the Mir complex. This happened also at least 3 times during the past week and this increased the altitude of Mir to approx. 359/353 KM.

After Priroda also the modules Kvant-2 and Kristall will be conserved.

The small air leakage in the module Kvant-2 has not been located thus far and a gradual decrease of the pressure in that module can be expected. I do not know if the module Kristall will be closed. The module Spektr cannot be conserved, for this module is not operational as of 27.06.1997.

Extra air seal checks have to be done on equipment which has valves to outer space. (For instance the Vozdukh CO2 scrubbers, draining CO2 into open space, and the Electrons doing the same with the hydrogen, a by-product of the electrolyse process for the oxygen production.) So there must be some concern about the module Kvant-2. On 25.08 the cosmonauts got orders to report regularly the air pressure inside the P.G.O. (instrument and cargo compartment of the Kvant-2).

Radio traffic reveals that the cosmonauts are working under great pressure. During the disc-preparation of this report there were only 2 days left for all what still has to be done, inclusive items like the checks of the systems of the return vehicle Soyuz-TM29, the execution of a number of physical exercises and medical checks. Now and then I am inclined to presume that the return must be put back some days (if this is operationally possible).

Radio traffic is also dedicated to the selection of what the cosmonauts will have to bring back to earth and which has to be stowed into the descent module (SA) of the ship Soyuz-TM29. It will be pretty tight in there! Press conference: On 21.08.1999 there were 2 press conferences at TsUP.

Main subject was an evaluation of the results of the 27th Main Expedition to Mir. The communications windows were pretty short and so the questions and answers had to be very short. The crew fulfilled all their tasks. Haignere was very pleased with his Perseus program, in which he also worked with earlier installed equipment from CNES as well as from the German DLR, such as the Titus furnace and many devices for geophysical- and ionospheric research.

Commander Afanasyev told that he did not like that Mir would fly unmanned so long. In one of the press conferences also the eventual 28th final Main expedition was mentioned. Thus far this is still unsure and depends on the funding.

Chris van den Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202

Originally to have launched January 9, 2003. Delayed six times. The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) was the last of NASA's 'Great Observatories'. It had a 0.85-meter infrared telescope, with a liquid-helium cooled focal plane carrying the three main instruments. SIRTF was launched by the second Delta II Heavy. The second stage entered a 166 x 167 km x 31.5 deg Earth parking orbit, and after about 33 minutes of coast, passing south of Madagascar, restarted at 0613 UTC to enter a hyperbolic orbit with a perigee of 170 km, an eccentricity of 1.0061, and a velocity of 11.05 km/s. This placed it in a solar orbit of 0.996 x 1.019 AU x 1.14 deg with a year about 4 days longer than Earth's.