For Mir Crew, Shuttle Visit Will Be Breath of Fresh Air

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The space shuttle Atlantis closed in on Russia’s orbiting Mir station Friday for a late-night linkup to drop off equipment urgently needed to ensure that the station crew has breathable air.

The shuttle also carried an astronaut to replace fellow American Dr. Jerry Linenger, who during his four-month stint aboard Mir has had to contend with a fire, antifreeze fumes, a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air, soaring humidity and temperatures as high as 94 degrees.

That didn’t seem to bother British-born astronaut Michael Foale, who said Mir will be like boarding school all over again.

“At that time there were no girls, and there will be no girls on board the Mir either, for 4 1/2 months,” he said. “And we certainly had restricted freedoms. We couldn’t go outside of the school boundaries for very long and that certainly applies to the Mir also.”

Linenger’s two Russian crew mates were eager to get the repair equipment arriving aboard Atlantis on this sixth docking flight.

The gear includes a new oxygen generator; detectors for fumes escaping from broken equipment; a valve for a spare carbon dioxide-removal unit that has yet to be built; lithium-hydroxide canisters to purge carbon dioxide from the air; and clamps, hoses and plugs for punctured cooling loops.

Also being delivered: apples, oranges, chocolate, ice cream and foie gras and other French delicacies, courtesy of Atlantis crewman Jean-Francois Clervoy of the European Space Agency.

The oxygen generator is the No. 1 piece of equipment and will be installed this weekend.

Both primary oxygen generators aboard Mir broke down in March, forcing the crew to use oxygen-producing canisters similar to those believed to have caused the fire in the ValuJet crash in the Everglades a year ago. In fact, one of the Mir canisters caused the fire in February aboard the Russian station.

Several weeks ago, the Mir crew managed to get one of the primary oxygen generators working again. The new one delivered by Atlantis will replace the one still broken.

Launched in 1986, Mir has exceeded its five-year life expectancy by six years.

Foale, who is married with two young children, said he has no qualms about living on Mir.

“I was slightly nervous before launch because of the risks involved in the shuttle launch,” Foale said. “But since those are behind us right now, I feel perfectly at ease.”

Atlantis lifted off with a crew of seven Thursday. The shuttle will uncouple itself from Mir on Wednesday and return to Earth next Saturday with Linenger.