Yuri Baturin, an aide to Russian president Boris Yeltsin, is to be launched to the Mir space station aboard the Soyuz TM28 on 2 August, 1998, to observe the condition of the ageing space base. Baturin, who has been training for the flight for many months, will return to Earth after a stay of seven to ten days. Meanwhile, on board the Mir, the spacewalk scheduled for 5 December has been delayed for a month, when Anatoli Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradev will try to repair a leaky seal in the airlock hatch of the Kvant 2 module and complete solar-panel installation work.
Source: Flight International