One day delay for mission

Published: 3/22/2000

The launch of the Soyuz TM crew vehicle, with two Russian cosmonauts on board, has been postponed from 3rd April to 4th April. The delay is reported to be due to necessary preparations of the second launching pad at Baikonur. The mission is to monitor the Mir space station, over a 45-90 day period, to assess its condition, following funding from a new foreign sponsor, Gold & Appel, involving a technological experiment with a 3-km long cable system, delivered to Mir aboard the Progress M1 at the end of January. The emergence of actual funding for the space station came at at the eleventh hour, at a point when the condition of the space station had significantly deteriorated, and its ditching seemed inevitable. While Mir continues to leak air, it will still be sufficient to support human life in April. Earlier reports suggested that the mission would be launched at the end of March.

Article ID: 1720