The three crew of the Mir space station went to bed late yesterday after preparing for vital repairs today that will determine the ship's future. "The attitude is that these guys are looking forward to getting on with it," said NASA's representative to Russia, Mr Douglas Englund. "They definitely seem pretty confident."
Mir lost 40 per cent of its power when it hit a cargo resupply ship on June 25th, forcing the crew to shut off several of its scientific modules and curb experiments.
If commander Anatoly Solovyov succeeds in connecting cables in the Spektr module leading to its four solar panels, Mir could regain 90 per cent of its power, said Mr Yuri Antoshechkin, deputy flight director at Mission Control, who oversees technical issues.
"One solar panel is broken, and it is unlikely that we can restore it, so we are hoping to regain 30 percent of that 40 per cent that we lost - but only if the device which keeps the panels facing the sun works."
Yesterday, the crew, commander Solovyov; engineer, Pavel Vinogradov; and NASA astronaut, Michael Foale, enjoyed what ground controllers called a day off.
Just after midnight today, the crew was due to begin hours of medical checks, spacesuit inspection and other preparations, Mission Control officials said.
Solovyov and Vinogradov are scheduled to don spacesuits at 7.40 a.m. today and 50 minutes later seal off a small airlock leading to Spektr, Soyuz and four other modules.
Foale will wait in the Soyuz escape capsule in case repairs go wrong.
"If something goes seriously wrong, all three cosmonauts will have to abandon Mir in the Soyuz," said Mr Valery Ryumin, an experienced cosmonaut who leads Mir's co-operation with NASA.
Officials are not sure what will happen when the cosmonauts open the Spektr hatch. The module has been airless and dark since the June accident, and any sharp floating objects could prove fatal if they were to penetrate the spacesuit. After opening Spektr, the cosmonauts will replace the hatch and connect cables in a fouror five-hour operation.