Mir is returning to live. 

(from BBC)

12 May 2000

Russian cosmonauts have completed a five-hour spacewalk to begin repairs to the hull of the Mir orbital platform.

Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri used a specially designed glue to seal tiny cracks in the hull.

It is hoped the sealant will prevent air leaking from the cabin through the cracks and therefore extend the life of the space station.

The spacewalk began at 14:44 Moscow time (11:44 BST) on Friday.

Immediately after opening the hatch the two cosmonauts manoeuvred their way over to a special panel imitating a damaged section in Mir's skin and applied an airtight glue.

Scientists developed the sealant to fill cracks like those that developed in the space station when it collided with a Progress supply freighter in 1997.

The accident very nearly destroyed Mir and left the platform with a depressurisation problem that plagued all subsequent missions.

With the major leaks already plugged by Zalyotin and Kaleri from the inside of Mir, the new glue has been designed as a solution for future cracks.

Problem area

The cosmonauts also examined a solar panel on the Kvant module which cannot be orientated towards the Sun because of a faulty drive gear. Zalyotin and Kaleri took photos of the problem area.

"The Mir station is entering the shadow zone, the Sun is gone, Alexander and I have switched on the spacesuit heaters and we are warmer now," Zalyotin told the mission controllers during one communication.

The cosmonauts also examined the exterior of the Progress M1-2 cargo ship, which linked up with Mir shortly after they went aboard the space station, and dismantled the thin-film solar battery mounted on the docking unit.

Kaleri reported that "an old charred cable, trailing debris out of its damaged insulation, was discovered in the vicinity of the solar battery mounting". The problem is not thought to be serious.

Sufficient money

The Russian Government had planned to dump Mir into the ocean early this year because it lacked the funds to keep the station flying. But Netherlands-based MirCorp stepped in with sufficient money to develop business possibilities on Mir.

MirCorp officials have previously said that they have committed $10-20m to finance the current mission and promised to raise more cash to keep the station in orbit until at least August.

They extolled Friday's mission as the first privately-funded spacewalk.

"Today's spacewalk is another demonstration of how a commercial space station should operate," said MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber. "The cosmonauts have done an excellent job reactivating Mir, and they are now adding a new dimension by taking their work into the full void of space."

The decision to extend Mir's life has annoyed the US space agency Nasa, which believes that it diverts scarce Russian resources from the International Space Station now under construction.