National Geographic: Destination Space Page #3

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if there were any.

That's how sensitive this system is.

What we're listening for is not

so much the aliens per se,

but their equipment, if you will.

We're listening for a transmitter.

We're not asking of the aliens that

they build huge interstellar transports

ala the star ship Enterprise

and go from world to world.

We're only asking that

they build a simple transmitter

that any teenager could put together

on a table top

and use a decent size antenna.

Two years after seeing Mir

for the first time,

Foale joins its Russian crew for

a four-and-a-half month mission.

He is replacing

American Jerry Linenger,

who appears eager to leave.

Hi, Mike, welcome to your new home.

Foale knows that a fire broke out

during Linenger's stay,

and that the ship's cooling system

leaks toxic anti-freeze.

The hatch closed, and I thought,

"Well, here I am on Mir."

And at that very moment,

Vasily turned towards me and said,

in Russian, because they didn't

speak English at all,

"Well, Mike,

now we are going to beat you."

And so began my time on Mir.

A joke by commander Vasily Tsibliyev,

meant to both welcome

and caution Foale.

The Russians understand

Mir's problems,

and they want to know if this rookie

can handle the challenge.

It proves a fair warning.

Foale has embarked on one of

the most harrowing missions

in the history of exploration.

In space, it is a narrow margin

that separates life from death.

Orbiting 250 miles above earth,

Mir is a pioneering craft,

a frontier port where men and women

have shattered space endurance records.

But records aren't broken

without risk and pain.

Mike Foale's first weeks on Mir

pass without incident.

But one month into the mission,

Foale's Russian crewmates,

engineer Sasha Lazutkin

and commander Vasily Tsibliyev,

prepare to test

a manual docking system.

Vasily will use a

remote steering system and a camera

to guide this supply ship of

the Progress class to Mir.

But as the eight-ton

vessel draws closer,

it becomes more difficult to track.

Vasily is flying blind.

He calls to his crewmates,

telling them to look for

the Progress through Mir's windows.

Foale and Sasha can't see

the incoming vessel anywhere.

Vasily fears the Progress

is approaching too fast.

He applies reverse thrusters.

But to no avail.

Seconds pass.

Then suddenly,

the Progress looms into view.

It's out of control

and headed right at them.

Sasha orders Foale

to the Soyuz-Mir's lifeboat.

So I flew through the air from the

back of the baseblock to the Soyuz.

I felt this big kathump.

Air starts to rush out of Mir.

I then felt the pressure

falling in my ears.

I thought,

"Ah, this is a pretty serious leak."

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