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| Identifier: | 86MOSCOW2889 |
|---|---|
| Wikileaks: | View 86MOSCOW2889 at Wikileaks.org |
| Origin: | Embassy Moscow |
| Created: | 1986-02-21 14:10:00 |
| Classification: | UNCLASSIFIED |
| Tags: | KSCA TSPA UR |
| Redacted: | This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks. |
O 211410Z FEB 86 FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1025 INFO DIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE EASTERN EUROPEAN POSTS AMCONSUL LENINGRAD USIA WASHDC 3599 NASA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS MOSCOW 02889 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY NASA FOR LIB E.O. 12356: N/A TAGS: KSCA, TSPA, UR SUBJECT: OBSERVATIONS ON SOVIET "MIR" SPACE STATION 1. DEPARTMENT HAS NO DOUBT SEEN MASSIVE PRESS COVERAGE OF LAUNCH FEBRUARY 20 OF SOVIET "MIR" (PEACE) SPACE STATION. PROUD OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENT, THE SOVIETS HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE OPEN IN THEIR COVERAGE OF THE EVENT IN LINE WITH A TREND WE HAVE OBSERVED IN RECENT MONTHS. FEBRUARY 20 VREMYA NEWSCAST SHOWED, BESIDES FOOTAGE OF THE LAUNCH ITSELF, DETAILS OF THE SPACE FLIGHT CONTROL CENTER OUTSIDE MOSCOW, INCLUDING A LARGE DETAILED DIAGRAM OF THE OUTSIDE OF THE STATION. VIDEOTAPE OF THE LAUNCH SHOWS THAT THE STATION WAS LAUNCHED ON THE SOVIETS' NEW LARGE "PROTON" BOOSTER. 2. INTERVIEWED DURING THE NEWSCAST, PROFESSOR AND PILOT-COSMONAUT K. FEOKTISTOV CALLED THE "MIR" SPACE STATION A "NEW GENERATION" STATION. HE ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE SOVIETS INTEND TO MAN THE STATION PERMANENTLY, BUT "NOT RIGHT AWAY." AFTER SHAKE-DOWN AND TESTING, A FIRST CREW WILL BE SENT UP FOR A "NOT LENGTHY" STAY TO CHECK THE STATION'S SYSTEM, TO BE FOLLOWED BY A BREAK FOR FURTHER "ADJUSTMENTS." AFTER THIS THE STATION WILL BE PERMANENTLY MANNED, WITH ROTATING SHIFTS. 3. ACCORDING TO A. IVAKHNOV, WRITING IN FEBRUARY 20 IZVESTIYA, THE METHOD OF CARRYING OUT EXPERIMENTS AND TRANSPORTING EQUIPMENT TO THE NEW STATION REPRESENTS A CHANGE OVER THE SALYUT STATIONS. RATHER THAN TRANSPORTING EQUIPMENT TO THE STATION AND PERFORMING EXPERIMENTS INSIDE THE STATION ITSELF (WHICH MADE SALYUT RESEMBLE AN "INSTRUMENT WAREHOUSE," IZVESTIYA SAYS), THE NECESSARY EQUIPMENT FOR EXPERIMENTS WILL BE TRANSPORTED IN SPECIALLY OUTFITTED MODULES TO BE DOCKED WITH THE CRAFT, AND THE EXPERIMENTS CARRIED OUT IN THE MODULES THEMSELVES. "MIR" CAN DOCK SIX MODULES AT A TIME, AND THUS, ACCORDING TO FEOKTISTOV, WILL PERMIT "A MUCH WIDER PROGRAM OF RESEARCH WORK." 4. EMBASSY DAO WILL FORWARD BY SEPTEL TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE "MIR" STATION AND IS FORWARDING TO DIA VIDEO TAPE OF "VREMYA" COVERAGE OF THE LAUNCH. HARTMAN
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