Moscow - A communications problem Thursday delayed a
harrowing spacewalk by two Russian cosmonauts who were to leave the
International Space Station (ISS) to retrieve an explosive bolt
expected to provide clues to why the Soyuz capsule was badly off-
course on its last two jolting re-entries.
International Space Station Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight
Engineer Oleg Kononenko were to conduct a six-hour spacewalk starting
at 1812 GMT.
A communications breakdown to controllers on Earth prompted the
postponement, Russian space officials said. The Interfax news agency
gave no further details.
Experts say it is an unorthodox mission for the Soyuz craft,
docked outside the station.
The pyrotechnic bolt is one of five meant to explode and decouple
part of the craft as it shuttles back to earth. The release ensures
proper aerodynamics for the remaining capsule to reenter Earth's
atmosphere.
The cosmonauts will use a serrated knife to cut through thermal
lining over the bolt, uncouple it from a mess of detonating cables,
force it out with a wrench and seal it in a blast-proof canister to
send back to Earth.
The operation rides on the suspicion that the targeted bolt is
that which failed to explode the last two times, crippling the
aerodynamics of the capsule and causing the Soyuz to slam into the
atmosphere backwards, hatch-first, leaving the crew unshielded from
the heat of impact.
But Russian and US experts said all precautions had been taken and
the cosmonaut duo was well-rehearsed. The station's only US crew
member will provide support from within the ISS.
The capsule has crash landed on its last two re-entries though the
crew have been un-harmed. They landed however kilometers from base
out in the Kazakh steppes.
But Russian experts hope Thursday's spacewalk will help resolve
the anomalies, not wishing to chance a third entry when Volk and
Kononenko return to Earth in October.
USA
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