Cosmonauts replace Mir’s failed computer

CAPE CANAVERAL (FLORIDA), June 1: Cosmonauts aboard the Russian space station Mir replaced a failed computer with a new one to steady the orbiting outpost for the shuttle discovery’s arrival.

NASA officials were hopeful Mir would be operating normally again before the shuttle’s scheduled lift-off tomorrow. Discovery cannot dock with Mir unless the station’s automatic steering system is working. The American astronaut aboard Mir, Andrew Thomas, was a little antsy about the slight chance that his ride home might be delayed, said Frank Culbertson, Nasa’s shuttle-Mir director.

"You expect somebody to come pick you up and then they call and say, well, they’re having second thoughts," he said. "That’s what a person in that situation would probably think. But we’re going to go get him."