MOSCOW (Reuters) - The crew on board Russia's Mir space station have taken advantage of a power cut caused by a breakdown in Mir's main computer to carry out some maintenance work, mission control said Monday.
There was now nothing wrong with Mir's main computer, which had shut down Friday, and it would be switched back on once the cosmonauts had carried out the maintenance work, it said.
``The computer shut-down cut off the power supply to some parts of the craft, something the cosmonauts would have had to do themselves for maintenance work,'' a duty officer at Mission Control outside Moscow said by telephone.
``So, they just jumped at the opportunity.''
The crew had planned Monday to start installing some new electronic equipment delivered to the station by the Progress cargo ship in July.
But the operation started two days earlier because the computer glitch had already disconnected the electricity supply.
``The computer malfunction Friday actually did the job for the crew and they decided to start work straightaway,'' the officer said.
The cosmonauts have so far changed electronic devices on three ``gyrodine'' gyroscopic devices which control the station's orientation and were replacing the batteries, he said.
The station is currently being kept on track by the alignment system of the cargo craft, which is docked to Mir.
``The computer itself was tested right after the shutdown and it is in perfect order, but it will be switched back on only Wednesday when the crew will have finished their work,'' he said.
He said the computer glitch posed no danger for the crew, adding that the station's solar panels, which generate electricity for life support systems, were aimed correctly toward the sun by the cargo craft.
The Mir station, for years the pride of Russia's space program, has suffered several major mishaps in recent years.
The three-man crew aboard Mir is due to return to earth next month, leaving the station unmanned. Russia has said a crew may return to Mir if it finds more funds for the program. However, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said last month that Mir had fulfilled its goals and should be abandoned gracefully.
The United States wants Russia to abandon Mir to focus its resources on the International Space Station, which is scheduled to receive its first crew next year.
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