Two Russian cosmonauts plan to dock their Soyuz spacecraft with Mir space station at at 10:30 am, Moscow time, on Thursday. According to TASS the docking is expected to be made in an automated mode from the Earth.
Although one of the great strengths of Russia and performed regulary by the Proton supply ships, cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri are capable of performing a manual docking of Soyuz and Mir.
TASS reported that Mission Controls officials said the cosmonauts would need to perform several difficult technical operations soon after the docking is completed.
"At first they will have to open transfer hatches, making sure that the butt joint is air-tight. Then they will move to the working module and switch on the equipment for air disinfection. After that, the two cosmonauts will check the docking assembly," reported TASS in a report issued Wednesday.
According to MirCorp officials who are partly funding this mission it is unclear what is awaiting the Russian cosmonauts on board Mir, which has been unmanned since August last years.
Mission control officials were reported by TASS as saying that preliminary telemetric data showed the station to be in fair condition. But only an onsite inspection by Zalyotin and Kaleri would be be able to determine the feasibility of bringing Mir back online as a privately funded operation.
