Russia's Mir 1 space station is operating at 85% electrical power after two spacewalks carried out on 3 and 6 November were used to install a new solar panel.
Cosmonauts Anatoli Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradev removed an old solar panel on the station's Kvant 1 module and replaced it with a new panel which unfurled fully only after some tugging by the spacewalkers.
Eight of the station's ten solar panels are now working. The old Kvant panel is inoperable and one of four panels on the Spektr module was damaged in the collision involving the Progress M34 tanker in June. The other three panels on the depressurised Spektr were reconnected to the Mir's power system earlier.
The next spacewalk is scheduled for 5 December and will be conducted by Solovyov and US astronaut David Wolf, who will retrieve a NASA experiment. Solovyov and Vinogradev will begin spacewalks to repair the leak on the Spektr in January 1998.
The work will be regarded as an engineering test, gaining experience for International Space Station operations, as the Spektr is unlikely to be occupied again.
During the 3 November spacewalk, Solovyov - who deployed a scale model of the Sputnik 1 into orbit to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first satellite's launch - became the world record holder for spacewalks.
His sortie on 6 November - his 12th excursion - increased his spacewalk time to 63h, compared with the US record of 29h held by astronaut Tom Akers.
Source: Flight International
