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Mir Expedition EO-14. Carried Vasili Tsibliyev, Alexander Serebrov, Jean-Pierre Haignere to Mir; returned Serebrov, Tsibliyev to Earth. Progress M-18 undocked from Mir's front port at around 17:25 GMT on July 3, and Soyuz TM-17 docked at the same port only 20 minutes later at 17:45 GMT. The EO-14 crew landed at 08:18 GMT on Jan 14 in the Soyuz TM-17 spaceship. The EO-14 expedition lasted 196 days 18hr 45 m, the 7th longest spaceflight.
Narrative (adapted from D S F Portree's Mir Hardware Heritage, NASA RP-1357, 1995)
In a unique manoeuvre on July 3, Progress M-18 undocked from Mir, clearing the port for the docking only minutes later of Soyuz TM-17 with the EO-14 crew of Vasili Tsibliyev and Alexandr Serebrov. The EO-13 crew returned to earth aboard Soyuz TM-16 on July 22. Progress M-18 remained docked to the station in a systems longevity test.
The night of August 12-13, the Perseid meteor shower peaked. The Perseids occur every year at this time, but in 1993 an unusually high peak was predicted. Because of this, the U.S. delayed launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, which was scheduled to be in orbit at this time. The EO-14 crew continued to work aboard Mir, but Russia took precautions: planes and helicopters stood by for the possible emergency return of Soyuz TM-17. During the shower, the cosmonauts mounted an around-the-clock watch, and observed about 240 meteoroids burning up in the atmosphere beneath Mir. They also noted ten window impacts, which produced craters from 1.5 to 4 mm across. Mir impact sensors noted a particle flux of up to 2000 times the normal mean rate during the Perseid shower. Mir sustained no readily apparent consequential damage from the meteoroids, but the Russians decided to mount EVAs to inspect Mir's exterior nonetheless.
The EO-14 cosmonauts spent 4 hr, 18 min outside Mir assembling the Rapana girder on top of Kvant on September 16. This was a girder assembly experiment with implications for Mir 2 space station development. Tsibliyev and Serebrov spent a further 3 hr, 13 min completing assembly of Rapana on September 20. On September 28 the EO-14 cosmonauts spent 1 hr, 52 min carrying out miscellaneous tasks and inspecting Mir's exterior in the first phase of the Panorama program. They spotted a 5-mm hole through one of the solar arrays. The hole was surrounded by an area of cracks several cm across. The cosmonauts were unable to determine if a Perseid meteoroid was the impactor.
The cosmonauts spent 38 min conducting the Panorama inspection of Mir and performing miscellaneous tasks on October 22. The EO-14 cosmonauts spent 4 hrs on October 29 inspecting Mir as part of the Panorama program and conducting miscellaneous tasks. By the end of Panorama they had inspected the entire skin of Mir. Panorama revealed many small impact sites on Mir, though no hull penetrations. During one of their EVAs, a piece of metal of indeterminate origin drifted past the working cosmonauts.
On November 21, 1993 Progress M-19 docked to the station. On January 10, 1994 Progress M-19 departed and Mir Principal Expedition 15 (Viktor Afanaseyev, Yuri Usachyov, Valeri Polyakov) arrived aboard Soyuz TM-18. Tsibliyev and Serebrov boarded Soyuz TM-17 on 14 January for the return home. Soyuz TM-17 struck Mir during the customary inspection fly-around prior to deorbit burn. Tsibliyev and Serebrov were conducting proximity operations with Mir. Among other things, they were photographing a NASA JSC-built docking target they had installed during one of their EVAs. They were unable to arrest Soyuz TM-17's forward movement because of an improperly set switch, and so struck Kristall two glancing blows with its descent module. The blows temporarily disabled Mir's orientation system. Masterful piloting by Tsibliyev prevented Soyuz TM-17 from striking Mir's antennas and solar arrays. After the incident, the EO-14 cosmonauts and ground controllers checked over Soyuz TM-17, while the EO-15 crew on Mir checked over Kristall. They found no damage. Normal Mir operations resumed, and Soyuz TM-17 made a normal re-entry.
AKA: Sirius (Sirius ); Soyuz TM-17 (Serebrov, Tsibliyev).
First Launch: 1993.07.01.
Last Launch: 1994.01.14.
Duration: 196.74 days.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Altair: From 4.07 until 22.07.93 Haignere, in co-operation with his Russian colleagues, will conduct experiments in the framework of the French scientific program Altair.
Spacewalks: If all goes according to previous planning the new crew (the 14th main expedition to the Mir station) will make 3 spacewalks.
Progress-M17: This freighter still flew autonomously in the night from 3 to 4.07.93 and was visually observed by Mr. Wim Holwerda (Working group artificial satellites) during Mir's pass in orb. 42174, 2227 UTC, at abt. 8 KM behind Mir. Wim also saw the 3d stage of the rocket which gave Soyuz-TM17 the last 'push' on 1.07.93. Progress-M17 carries a return capsule. In a next Mir-report I hope to tell somewhat about the fate of Progress-M17 and that capsule.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Mir-crew: Manakov is still captain of the Mir-complex and this he shows clearly. During every pass he tightly holds the microphone. Now and then Polishchuk and Serebrov can be heard; Tsybliyev, who has to take over command one of these days, rarely speaks with TsUP.
Progress-M17: During the experiment 'Rodeo' on 3.07.93 this freighter undocked from the Mir station while Soyuz-TM17 was waiting for the docking port freed by Progress-M17. Progress-M17 undocked at 1553 UTC. Soyuz-TM17 docked to Mir at 1624 UTC. The return-capsule of Progress-M17 landed safely in Kazakhstan at 1802 UTC.
Soyuz-TM16: With this ship, now still attached to the Kristall- Module, Manakov, Polishchuk and Haignere will return to earth on 22.07.93. The landing is expected at about 0630 UTC.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Progress-M18: Will undock from Mir and decay in the atmosphere on 24.07.93 (so 2 days after the departure of Soyuz-TM16).
Progress-M19: Launch from Baykonur on 27.07.93.
Progress-M20: Launch from Baykonur on 12.10.93.
Soyuz-TM18 : Launch from Baykonur with crew Afanasyev and Usachov on 16.11.93.
Progress-M21: Launch from Baykonur on 30.11.93.
In May 1994 there will be a flight of a Soyuz-TM to Mir with on board Malenchenko and Strekalov. (Strekalov replaced Kaleri, because he has more experience than Kaleri.) The 3d crew member will be a physician for a long duration flight of one and a half year. For this flight 3 physicians are selected, one of them will fly, namely Polyakov, Arzamazov and Morukov.
The Russians have the intention to launch Module Spektr on 20.12.93 for a flight to Mir. This long expected extension will be welcomed by the crew of the 15th Main expedition to Mir: Afanasyev and Usachov.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Soyuz-TM16 landed safely in near the city Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. The ballistic section of Professor Ivanov again deserves admiration for their excellent work: the landing took place 23 seconds later than calculated. During this flight the crews of Mir and Soyuz-TM16 as well had to do somewhat extra in this field for at the moment of undocking the objects were out of range of NIP (measurement points on earth). So they had to take care for the actual attitudes during undocking and thereafter. Data for this operation they got during radio traffic with TsUP on 21.07.93. Just after the separation of the Life compartment (BO) and the Motor block from the Landing module (SA) the SA entered the dense layers of the atmosphere at 061817 UTC surrounded by the fire of the plasma. At a distance of appr. 400 KM the crew on board Mir was able to observe this through porthole nr. 9. At 062655 UTC the main parachute opened and the landing took place at 064200 UTC. So the crew of the 13th Main expedition to Mir, Manakov and Polishchuk, and the French 'spacionaute' Haignere accomplished their flights. H. was able to execute the French scientific program Altair. The last days of his flight he felt tired due to the huge amount of work, which was necessary to get a maximum profit of such an expensive flight. H. was very satisfied about his work on board but also about his activities as a radio- amateur and he was very grateful to make a lot good QSO-s with French and other amateurs.
Mir: On board Mir are now the cosmonauts Tsybliyev and Serebrov. Their official calls are not 'Ceres' as has been published earlier, but respectively Sirius-1 and 2. Their calls for radio- amateur activities are resp. R3Mir and R4Mir. Ts. en S. will work in open space 3 times in September this year to accomplish the transfer of the solar batteries from the Kristall-module to Kvant-1.
In a next Mir-report I hope to give attention to the last days of the presence of 5 cosmonauts on board Mir.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Mir-crews: On 16.7.93 the control over the Mir-station had been transferred to the new crew: Tsibliyev took care of the attitude control and Serebrov had replaced Polishchuk as board-engineer. Manakov and Polishchuk prepared their return flight. Their main concern was to find room in Soyuz-TM16 for all what they had to bring back to earth. Thoroughly they checked the on board systems of that ship and rehearsed the procedures for the navigation during and after the undocking from Mir on 22.07.93. A physician at TsUP regularly checked the health of M. and P.
New crew: As of 22.07.93 Tsibliyev and Serebrov are working strenuously. They are busy with a lot of important repairs and replacements. Obviously they have to solve all problems with the attitude(movements-) control of the complex. (Gyrodynes and the VDU motor in the Sofora-girder). They already work on the Gyrodynes. It is a pleasure to hear the new crew: undoubtedly excellent cosmonauts. Quite normal for S.: this is his 4th flight, but the novice T. acts as if he has a long experience in space.
Progress-M18 and M19: Recently the decay of the first freighter (M18) still was on schedule for 24.07.93. This has been put back. Though still not for 100% sure the plan is to undock Progress-M18 on 8.08.93 after the launch that same day of Progress-M19. If this happens it will be a novelty: for a while 2 freighters flying autonomously in space.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Progress-M18: This ship will separate from Mir and decay in the atmosphere if the launch of Progress-M19 is successful.
Radio-amateur traffic new crew: The new crew has not been heard with amateur traffic (packet radio or phone) on the known amateur frequencies during passes within our range. The crew asked TsUP for a computer program to clean the overloaded memory of their computer, which contains a lot of correspondence and documents of the previous crew. So possibly they will resume packet-radio after the deletion of all superfluous files. During a packet QSO with TsUP on 143.625 mc Mir used the call R0Mir.
Spacewalks (EVA-s): The 3 EVA-s planned for September 1993 have been cancelled. The present crew (14th Main expedition) will not carry out any EVA-s.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Perseid-meteorites: These meteorites coming from the comet Swift- Tuttle are visible (clouds permitting) around 12 august every year. Thus far clouds did not permit this for us this year, but the Mir-cosmonauts, not hindered by clouds or fog, were able to see the meteorites. Tsibliyev, the captain of the Mir-station, reported during the pass in orbit 42770, 11.08.93, 0452-0503 UTC, that they saw a little bit of it. He added that he had to report some 'battle wounds'. He told TsUP that the station had been hit by 4 particles obviously coming from that meteorite-rain. They caused minor damages to 2 solar batteries (on the base block and on Kristall - Module-T) and to one of the portholes. The window of that porthole showed a cavern with a diameter of 2 a 3 mm. T. nor TsUP did not show any concern. To be realistic: thus far we have to do with minor particles, but bigger particles can cause serious damages to space-ships and stations, even leakage and consequently decompression. In my opinion the recent experience of the Mir-crew fully justifies NASA's decision to put back the launch of Space shuttle Discovery until 12.08.93 due to concern for that meteorite-storm.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Perseid-meteorites: So the crew just had to work during 3 night shifts: 2 due to the meteorite-storm and 1 for the Progress-M19. In the night from 11 to 12 Aug. they enjoyed the sight of the meteorite-rain. They spoke about 'fireballs' and stopped counting them for it really was a rain. The night before they also observed this phenomenon, which was less spectacular then. Unfortunately they again had to report collisions with small particles and damages. S. and T. expressed their relief that all was over now and that they survived the meteorite-bombardments.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE PERSEID METEORITE STREAM ON 12.08.93:
After a long period of silence the Russians officially admitted that the station suffered from hits caused by minuscule particles during the Perseid-meteorite stream. One hit even caused a hole in a solar battery with the diameter of appr. 6 cm. Meanwhile messages and questions about the damages reached the Mir crew by amateur radio. Experts are evaluating the eventual influence of the damages on the power supply of the complex. The crew cannot see the whole outer surface of the station from inside and so EVA-s must be carried out to inspect it thoroughly.
RADIO-AMATEUR TRAFFIC:
For some weeks again a lot of Packet radio tfc on 145.550 mc. Sometimes there are also calls by 'phone' on that frequency. On 12 and 13.09.93 the crew used 145.500 mc to contact the Irish amateur EI3SI by speech.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Another EVA on 16.09.93:
The astronauts of the space shuttle Discovery also executed an EVA this day. About this EVA the Western media brought news and images, which they did not about the Russian EVA. And that is why I did!
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Eventual 3d EVA:
After evaluation of today's EVA and an analysis of the TV-images made by the cosmonauts, experts will decide whether there will be needed a 3d EVA. The Russians did speak nor about the inspection of Mir's outer surface and the solar batteries neither about the transfer of solar batteries. If a 3d EVA will be made, this might be on 24.09.93.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Mir-station hit by a particle from outer space:
On 21.09.93 at abt. 1205 UTC, while the station was near the equator, Tsibliyev heard the clap of a particle colliding with Mir's outer surface. The impact caused a little cloud of dust and released some pieces of paint of the wall. Tsibliyev heard the impact while he was flying from Kvant-1 to the Base Block. Serebrov, who was working in Module-D, did not hear it.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Reason delay transfer solar batteries from Kristal to Kvant-1:
Several times this work has been put back. Reason for this delay at the moment is the fact that the launches of the modules Spektr and Priroda to Mir have been delayed due to financing problems. The Russians hope to get support from the west, where a lot of scientists are convinced of the scientific value of those modules.
Progress-M20: The launch of this freighter is still on schedule for 12.10.93. The crew is already involved in the loading of Progress-M19 with goods they have to get rid off and cargo for the Ballistic Return Capsule (VBK).
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Mir-operations:
The still attached to Mir Progress-M19 corrected the orbit of the complex. Mir was lifted from ap/per 390.7/384.8 KM to ap/per 397.4/389.2 KM. So Keplers older than day 278 are invalid. The crew still has to spend a lot of time to keep the life systems of the complex operational, especially the water regeneration systems cause a lot of trouble. On 7 Oct. 1993 during their first contact with TsUP (in orb. 43660, 0535-0546 UTC) they heard that the launch of the Soyuz-TM18 with the relief crew had been put back until the 2d half of December 1993 (instead of 24.11.93), which means a prolongation of their flight. The delay is caused by a complex of reasons, one of them has something to do with the carrier-rocket for Soyuz-TM18's launch. Serebrov stated that he and Tsibliyev understand this decision and that they, though reluctantly, agreed to remain longer in space. They asked TsUP to inform Yuriy Semyonov (Head of NPO Energiya) about their consent.
PROGRESS-M19: The crew is preparing this freighter for her imminent departure. Main task is the loading and servicing of the VBK (ballistic return capsule) of Progress-M19. Progress-M19 will undock from Mir after the eventual successful launch of the freighter Progress-M20.
PROGRESS-M20: Launch still on schedule for 11.10.93, 2133 UTC (so for TsUP already on 12.10.93, 0033 Msc Winter Time) from Baykonur. Rendezvous and docking with Mir in the late evening of 13.10.93 ( UTC).
4th Spacewalk (EVA): This EVA will be carried out after the arrival of Progress-M20. The most convenient day for this EVA will probably be 28.10.93. Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
PROGRESS-M19:
To enable Progress-M20 to dock with the complex the Progress-M19 had to disappear. Nowadays the Russians undock the old freighter as soon as they are sure about the right orbit and the good functioning of the new one. So Progress-M19 separated from Mir on 12.10.1993 at 1759 UTC. Before burning up in the atmosphere Progress-M19 jettisoned the V.B.K. and this landed safely in the designated area on 13.10.93 at 0022 UTC. The crew on board Mir did not go asleep but observed the whole operation. The were enthusiastic about this interesting event. They saw how the engines of Pr-19 worked, how the V.B.K. separated from Progress-M19 and they even could see the burning up of the rest of the freighter. They made a lot of video-films and images. During the pass in 43751, on 13.10.93 at 0135 UTC they reported about these observations to TsUP. In the course of 13.10 they transmitted their films to TsUP via the geostationary satellite Altair.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Progress-M20:
This freighter will undock from the complex on 21.11.93. After jettisoning the V.B.K. (return capsule) Progress-M20 will burn up in the atmosphere. The undocking and decay of Progress-M20 has been put forward due to one of the American (Boeing) experiments. To keep this experiment in space until the return of Soyuz-TM17 to the 2d decade of January 1994 was undesirable.
Reason for the delay of the launch of Soyuz-TM18:
This delay has been caused by the bad economical situation. Simply: there was no funding available for a launch in November 1993. Soyuz-TM18 will start on 4.01.94 with the relief crew (15th main expedition to Mir) on board. One of the crew of 3 persons will be a doctor (Polyakov or Arzamazov), who will remain on board Mir for 1.5 year. The present crew (14th main expedition) will return to earth with Soyuz-TM17 on 12.01.94, so their flight will last well over 1.5 months longer than foreseen in the original planning. Though reluctantly Tsibliyev and Serebrov agreed to this delay.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Information: The English service of Radio Moscow slightly paid attention to this EVA, but did not speak about the cause of the premature return on board of the crew. For the first time in the history of spaceflight Radio Moscow spoke about the Russian crew as 'astronauts' instead of 'cosmonauts'.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Orbit correction: One of these days the Progress-M20 will have to correct the orbit of the complex. After this correction old Keplers will no longer be valid.
Mir-crew: The cosmonauts reported that the outside surface of the Mir-station is in a good shape. The damages caused by micro- meteorites are not that bad as previously expected. More concern they expressed about the inside systems of the station. The guaranteed lifetime is running to its end and they have to do a lot of strenuous maintenance work on the life systems. Nowadays they have problems with the provision of oxygen.
Contact between Mir and Shuttle Columbia on 26.10.93:
It was a great surprise for the Mir-crew to get a call in Russian from the Columbia on a radio-amateur channel.
Renovation work in my shack:
Due to renovation work in my shack it might be difficult to maintain my operational possibilities for a while. So there might be a period in which I will be unable to make Mir- reports. Please don't worry: when this misery is over I will be back again!
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Decay of Progress-M20 and safe landing return capsule on 21.11.93:
Undocking of Progress-M20 from Mir at 0236 UTC. Progress-M20 jettisoned the VBK (return capsule) at 0850 UTC. Progress-M20 entered dense layers of the atmosphere at 0851 UTC and decayed. The VBK safely landed not far from Orsk at 0903 UTC. Orsk is a town just north of the border with Kazakhstan. The VBK itself landed just inside Kazakhstans territory. So possibly Russia will have to pay Kazakhstan import duties for the VBK and the cargo.
VBK's cargo:
The cargo mainly consisted of 2 American containers with experiments: The first one is the experiment TREK, which had been installed outside Mir from 4.04.91. This experiment registered particles of super-heavy elements in the cosmic radiation. The 2d American experiment was the grow of biological crystals delivered by the firm Boeing. The VBK brought back to earth some Russian experiments: 2 videocassettes with images made during the survey experiment Panorama, an experiment with Ultraviolet in the earth's atmosphere, a sample of thermo-insulation material exposed to open space and a lot of negative-films.
Progress-M21: It is still unknown when this freighter will be launched for a flight to Mir. This freighter is badly needed, especially for a supply of fresh oxygen. The last days the crew is complaining about problems with the air pressure and oxygen, which cause respiration problems (dry nostrils and throat).
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
SOYUZ-TM18:
This ship will be launched for a flight to the Mir-station on 6.01.1994. If all goes according to the original planning the relief crew will consist of 3 cosmonauts. One of them is a doctor (Polyakov or Arazamov) who must remain in space for 1.5 year. Whether the crew will consist of 2 or 3 cosmonauts is not sure for 100%.
Mir-routine:
In this period Mir's passes are in the night hours. The crew is still busy in keeping the station operational. They have to pay a lot of attention to the life-support systems: air pressure- and air composition and the water regeneration systems Elektron and S.R.V.-U.
Visit of the American vice-president to TsUP:
The Russians very badly need financial support from the United States for the upgrading of the partly worn-out Mir-station. So they are very pleased that vice-president Gore will visit Kaliningrad near Moscow around 14.12.93. He will also visit the flight control centre TsUP.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Soyuz-TM17:
The present Mir-crew (Tsibliyev and Serebrov) is already involved in activities related to their oncoming relief and their return to earth on 14.01.94. On 5.01.94 they remained on board of this ship for a long time to check systems and to look for areas in which they can stow things, which have to be returned to earth.
Progress-M17:
This freighter is still flying autonomously after the separation from Mir on 11.08.93. The Russians left Progress-M17 in space to check the lifetime of the systems due to the future use by the Americans of a Soyuz-TM modification as ACVR (rescue boat) for their space station. During a manoeuvre before Christmas the station came in a lower perigee (235 KM) due to a failure in the attitude control system. TsUP lost control over the freighter and they plan to have her decayed in the end of February this year. Probably this will happen spontaneously: the present orbital elements will lead to a decay at abt 28.03.94 (+ or - 3 days).
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202.
The 5 men will work together during the next 3 days and the old crew (Mir Main expedition nr. 14) will then hand over the station to the 15th Main expedition.
On 14.01.1994 Tsibliyev and Serebrov will return to earth in the Soyuz-TM17.
The 15th Main Expedition will last until 6.07.1994, so 177 days. Then Afanasyev and Usachev will be relieved by Malenchenko, Musabayev and Strekalov. Strekalov will return with the relieved crew. Dr. Polyakov will remain on board until spring 1995 (427 days) to conduct medical experiments aimed at the long-lasting flights to Mars.
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202
Return operation:
At 0145 UTC the hatch of Soyuz-TM17 was closed behind Tsibliyev and Serebrov. At 0430 UTC the Soyuz-TM17 undocked from Mir. Tsibliyev had got orders to make a short inspection flight around the Mir-complex. They had to make images of the outer surface and they had to give special attention to the APAS89 docking system on Kristall (Module-T). In a distance of 30 Meters S- TM17 deviated from the desired course and collided with the Mir-station. Immediately radio contact with Soyuz-TM17 was lost. After 10 minutes TsUP managed to re-established radio contact with Soyuz-TM17 and the crew reported that their ship did not suffer damages and that the air-seal was still in good order. They also did not see any damages on the Mir-complex. Soyuz-TM17 made its last 2 orbits around the earth and the descent started at abt. 0715 UTC. At 0804 UTC the parachute opened and the 2-tonne heavy capsule made a safe landing at 08.18.20 UTC.
Mir:
The new crew (15th Main Expedition) immediately started observations through the portholes to try to determine eventual damages. During the passes in orbits 45206 (1100 UTC) and 45207 (1234 UTC) they transmitted to earth video-images which they made during the departure and fly-around of Soyuz-TM17. Shortly Afanasyev and Usachov will have to make a non-scheduled spacewalk to inspect the place, where Soyuz-TM17 hit the Mir- station. (probably near the APAS89 docking device on Kristall -Module-T).
Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202