DATE=4/3/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / MIR (L OVERNIGHTER)
NUMBER=2-260894
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
/// ED'S: BLASTOFF SET FOR 0501 U-T-C / 1:01 AM EDT
TUESDAY. ///
INTRO: A two-man crew is to blast off from the
Baikonur (BAI-kon-UR) Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early
Tuesday to dock with Russia's aging space station,
MIR. Moscow Correspondent Eve Conant reports MIR has
been flying unmanned since August, but private
investment has made this unexpected mission possible.
TEXT: Space officials explain that while aboard MIR,
the two cosmonauts will fix a leak, carry out
scientific experiments, and spruce up the station for
a possible next crew. Officials say the mission is
expected to last at least 45-days, but could be
extended for as long as three-months, if extra money
can be raised.
The 14-year-old space station has a long history of
technical failures, including a fire on board several
years ago. Russia's cash-strapped government had
planned to abandon MIR, but decided to keep the space
station in orbit after private investment gave it a
new, if temporary, lease on life. Russia's president-
elect Vladimir Putin has also argued that Russian
authorities should find a way to keep the aging
station in orbit.
Russian television broadcast an interview with the two
cosmonauts, Sergey Zalyotin and Alexander Kareli, who
will man the mission. Cosmonaut Zalyotin explained
their first task is to fix an oxygen leak.
/// ZALYOTIN ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says it is an exaggeration to say MIR is not
hermetically sealed. He says the spacecraft's leak is
-- in his words -- not so bad, and it has happened
before. And he says the two cosmonauts are sure the
work will go well.
Cosmonaut Kareli said the two men are in good spirits
ahead of their flight.
/// KARELI ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says the two men feel, as he put it - like
sportsmen before a long-distance run, slightly
anxious.
Despite its history of technical problems, MIR is a
source of pride for Russian space officials who have
said they do not want to scrap the historic space
station.
But international space officials, including
representatives of the U-S space agency NASA, say they
want Russia to abandon MIR and focus its resources on
the new International Space Station. (SIGNED)
NEB/EC/JWH/RAE
03-Apr-2000 13:54 PM EDT (03-Apr-2000 1754 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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