KOROLYOV-The two Russians and one American orbiting earth on Russia's Mir space station may have to abandon it if they cannot solve a series of technical problems, a spokesman for mission control said yesterday. Viktor Blagov said there was no immediate reason to evacuate but added: "The team is continuing its repairs. It's a difficult task and if it cannot be solved Mir might be abandoned by the cosmonauts."
Blagov, deputy head of the flight programme, told a news conference that the cosmonauts had repaired two of three leaks in the station's cooling system with special glue but had yet to find the third leak, through which antifreeze was escaping into the station's air supply. "It's on the limit of what is acceptable," he said, adding that it was not clear how dangerous was the concentration of the antifreeze vapour.