Sep 15 1997
From The Space Library
The Mir space station nearly collided with a U.S. military satellite, forcing Mir's crew to prepare hastily for an emergency exit. When the satellite came within 500 to 1,000 yards (457 to 914 meters) of Mir, U.S. astronaut C. Michael Foale and the two resident Russian cosmonauts sealed themselves in the Soyuz spacecraft so that they would be able to leave if the satellite hit the station. According to NASA, problems with space debris and close encounters between satellites are common, but usually miles, rather than yards, separated the rapidly traveling spacecraft. Russian space officials had taken a different approach to the situation than their American counterparts would have chosen. Rather than ordering Mir to adjust its position, as NASA had instructed Shuttle crews to do when debris approach, Russian officials had ordered Mir's crew back into Soyuz, prepared to take off immediately. The near miss of Mir and the satellite was not the first time that Mir had received a collision alert. NASA had begun monitoring Mir's path when American astronauts joined the permanent crew and reported that space debris passed within a few kilometers of Mir about once every six weeks.
Data gathered by the U.S.-French satellite TOPEX/Poseidon confirmed theories that a "full-blown El Nino condition" existed in the Pacific. Scientists believe that an El Nino forms when steady, westward-blowing trade winds weaken or reverse direction, altering typical, atmospheric jet-stream patterns around the world. TOPEX/Poseidon measured sea-surface heights and atmospheric water vapor to confirm the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's earlier prediction. Based on previous El Nino events, scientists predicted heavy rainfall for the western United States, mild winters in the east, and extreme droughts in Australia, Africa, and Indonesia.
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