Subject: mirnews.345
From: "C.M. van den Berg" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 1997 18:41:48 +0100

Hello Jonathan. I do not know whether Hans Janssen has send you this
report, but nevertheless here it is.

The delay has been caused by the mentioned tragic event in our family. Our
daughter-in-law,  mother of 3 of our grandchilderen died in the age of 45
years.

So possibly now and then there will be a lull in my activities due to other
obligations.

With kindes regards,

Chris

MIRNEWS.345                                                             12
FEBRUARY 1997

Soyuz-TM25 docked at MIR-complex:

Without significant problems S-TM25  docked at the aft (+X axis) of MIR on
12.02.97 at 15.51.13UTC. During this operation the Russians still used the
system Kurs. The automatic mode worked well from the beginning and only in
a distance of 5 M. Tsibliyev had to take over manually due to a slight
deviation along the X  axis (roll). 
After some little corrections he accomplished a soft 'kasaniye' (touch). 
During the first pass of both objects for our position (orb. 62758) 
1541-1548UTC approach traffic could be monitored on 121.750 mc, but the
full Altair-1/MIR window  (1510-1618UTC) was in use for this traffic.  In
fact S-TM25 used for communications with TsUP 2 relay facilities: MIR and
Altair-1.  In this traffic Tsibliyev and Lazutkin (Siriusy) as well as
Korzon (Fregat) could be heard.  The moment of the soft docking could be
derived from the word 'congratulations'  spoken by one of the cosmonauts. 
During the next pass (orb. 62759), 1720-1726UTC, the hatch had already been
opened and the pass thereafter (orb. 62760/61) the new crew was inside MIR.

Communicatons S-TM25: 3 hours after launch on 10.2.97 (orb. 2,
1712-1714UTC) the transmissions of the ship could be monitored here on the
well known frequencies with Tsibliyev on 121.750 mc with TsUP.  During the
next pass (1841-1848UTC) he reported the good results of the 2
orbitcorrections. He also mentioned some problems with a TV-installation or
a screen.  Apart from some interference by the groundservices of a near by
airport (also using 121.750 mc, but AM-W) the signals came in loud and
clear. 
Also during the second  day (11.02.1997) traffic could be heard during all
passes for our position. 

Communications MIR:  On 8.02.1997 DLR's GSOC in Oberpfaffenhofen (Germany)
and MIR tested the direct link via the quasi-geostationary comsat Altair-1
over 16dgs West. 
Good images and audio from inside MIR demonstrated that the test was a
great success. They also checked the performance of the so called BDD
(Betriebstechnik Deutschland Direkt).  This is an interface assembly for
direct data exchange between specialists on earth and Reinhold Ewald during
experiments in the framework of  the MIR-97 program.  A few days later it
was clear that the direct link between GSOC and MIR  will be a normal
routine until 2.03.1997 (the end of MIR-97). 

PS: A tragic event in my family  caused delay in the mailing of this
report.   

Chris v.d. Berg, NL-9165/A-UK3202  E-mail: [email-masked]