"First, I believe its prudent to keep Mir flying until the International Space Station becomes operational. Second, Mirs core module is almost an exact copy of the International Space Stations Service Module," Titov said. "Why not continue testing Mir to see how long the International Space Station will last?"
Dubbed Zvezda, or Star, the Service Module is a key command and control module that will double as living quarters for research crews on the ISS. The international station is being built by a 16-nation consortium that includes space agencies in the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil.
Pressure to abandon Mir
Russia has been under pressure from its ISS partners to abandon Mir so its scarce financial resources can be devoted to the new outpost.
Mir has been flying without a crew since last August. Russia had considered sending it on a destructive plunge through the atmosphere and into the Pacific Ocean this spring, but a group of American investors now plan to ante up the money needed to run it on a commercial basis.
To that end, Russia now plans to send cosmonauts Sergey Zalyotin and Alexander Kalery to Mir in late March or early April a move that has raised concerns about the nations ability to also support its critical role in the construction of the new international station.
Three rockets -- two Progress cargo ships and one piloted Soyuz spacecraft worth some $18 million -- will be required to support what now is envisioned as a 45- to 72-day mission on Mir.
Will Mir drain resources?
Mikhail Karnaukhov, a senior specialist with the Russian space agency, said he wants to make certain that all Progress and Soyuz craft borrowed to support Mirs crew can be replaced "in time so that the International Space Station assembly would not face another delay."
"If there is no fraud, and [investors] will pay all that is promised, then Mir will fly for a while and the International Space Station program will not be jeopardized," Krikalev said. "However, if the crew arrives at Mir and the money is not there, then Mir might start draining resources from the International Space Station budget, and this will introduce uncertainty in the ISS assembly schedule."
Slow leak on Mir
In any case, the Progress space freighter will carry up crucial provisions that include oxygen needed to revitalize the stations air supply.
The venerable station has been slowly leaking air since last year a problem that must be rectified before Zalyotin and Kalery arrive at the outpost. Current pressure within the station is about 12 pounds per square inch (p.s.i.). Normal pressure is 14 p.s.i..
"The rate of leak[age] is very low. It is [the] equivalent of a leak from a tiny hole a millimeter in diameter," said veteran cosmonaut Sergey Krikalev, who will serve as flight engineer on the first ISS crew. "It is probably even less than the standard rate of leak in [NASAs space] shuttle. We just set very high leak-tight standards for our station."
The Progress space freighter will carry up enough oxygen to fix the problem.
"The amount of compressed air in the cargo spacecraft will increase the pressure inside the station by [3.4 p.s.i.]," said Valery Olshansky, the chief of the Piloted Space Flight Department of the Russian space agency.
Food, water and a boost
Also on board the cargo carrier is enough food and water to support several Mir crews. "There are some supplies still stored in Mir," said Krikalev. "But the Progress will bring food and water for more than one crew."
Another likely job for the Progress: Giving Mir a boost. The station now is flying in a relatively low orbit less than 217 miles (350 kilometers) above the planet. Its operational altitude is between 230 and 250 miles (370 and 400 kilometers).
"It has not been increased because of the uncertainty regarding Mirs future," said Krikalev. "If we drop the station in the ocean soon, why waste money and hardware to move it to a higher orbit?"
A final decision on the possibility of using the fuel-toting Progress to boost the stations altitude is expected in April.
Meanwhile, Titov and other veteran cosmonauts are happy to see Russia moving to revive the Mir station, which has played host to 27 crews over the years.
"I really would not like to find myself in the shoes of the cosmonauts who were trained to fly in Mir and whose missions were canceled," said Titov, who once stayed aboard the outpost for an entire year. "It is a deep professional frustration. Now, they are getting their chance."
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