 Good morning. This is Norm Thagerd on board Mir station along with my crewmates Commander Volodya Dijodov and Flight Engineer Gennady Strikolov. Right now we're busy making preparations for tomorrow's anticipated docking of the space shuttle with the Mir station. That should be exciting for all of us and we certainly look forward to it. Not the least of our reasons of course is we've already been here almost four months and the space shuttle is basically our ride home. As we prepare we are at the same time breaking some things out for further checking as sort of a last-minute verification that some of the equipment that arrived in Specter will work but on the other hand to try to make the station a bit neater we're also trying to pack some things away and make some water to the station. So it's a busy time nonetheless we're happy to have the opportunity to talk with the folks in Connecticut who are participating in I will try and handle any questions that are given in English and my crewmates can answer those questions that are presented in Russian and maybe in that way we can answer all the questions and with that we're standing by. My name is Vera. Do you speak foreign languages? Foreign language? We speak many foreign languages that are even within the boundaries of Russia even though Russia is the primary language as you well know within Russia there are many separate republics and many republics have their own languages. Of course since we are in an international mission we understand English and even try sometimes to speak in English. We have a gentleman by the name of Mike who wants to ask a question. What's the greatest distance that you have flown from the planet? Well right now we're flying in orbit. It's 400 to 415 kilometers in altitude and we are in this orbit and flying around the the earth at this distance. Atlantis Houston loud and clear for the ODS COM check. Transmitting on air to ground one. Okay dear thanks for some reason we can't make the icon work from the same box. Copy that Charlie. Incoh is earning his money today Charlie. Commander Hood Gibson and pilot Charlie Precourt about to conduct a test of the post-contact thrust system. This is a computer software on the shuttle which when initiated. Which when initiated will provide about a two second burst of several of the shuttle's jet thrusters at the point of contact between the shuttle and the mere space station tomorrow to drive the two docking mechanisms more closely together and initiate the capture sequence between the capture latches on the orbiter docking systems docking mechanism and comparable latches on the crystal science module's docking mechanism on the mirror. The shaking of the picture representing the firing of those thrusters. Copy initial evaluation looks right on the money and we see the rates through camera. The test involves the extension of this docking ring to about 13 inches in length. That will duplicate that will duplicate the activity that will occur once the two vehicles come into contact with one another tomorrow during docking. The mechanical systems officer here in the Mission Control Center reports that that docking ring is being driven properly is moving forward to it to its extended position. It is at that extended position that the orbiter will come into contact with the docking mechanism on the crystal science module on the mirror. And thus initiate the capture of the two vehicles with a series of capture latches that are located in those three triangular pedals at the top of the docking ring. You can clearly see the docking ring now extending upwards from the docking system itself. At the point of contact between the two vehicles the capture latches on the top of that extended ring will hook onto comparable latches on the crystal module docking mechanism. Then the capture ring will be retracted to bring the two docking interfaces flush against one another. At that point the structural mating of hooks and latches on both sides of the docking interfaces between the Atlantis and the mirror will begin. The entire process from contact through capture and then the hard mating of the two vehicles against each other should take about 20 to 25 minutes. This is a Russian built docking mechanism which was built by RSC Energia, the main hardware manufacturer for Russian spacecraft hardware. It was then integrated into the orbiter through Rockwell International in Downey, California. On the right side of the screen as the orbiter passes in darkness is a very faint view of the centerline camera which is located at the top of the inside of Port Hole at the top of the orbiter docking system which will be used as a navigational aid by Commander Hood Gibson and Pilot Charlie Precourt during the final phase of the rendezvous and approach to the Mir space station tomorrow. In the crosshairs on that shot on the right side of the split screen would be the crystal science module's docking target. The two views will enable Gibson and Precourt to perfectly align the orbiter docking system mechanism with the crystal science module docking mechanism for a precise point of contact and capture. Energia designed and built this Russian docking mechanism. It was integrated into the orbiter docking system and then into the orbiter itself by NASA and Rockwell International and the initial test of that docking system and the extension of the docking ring went off without a hitch earlier this morning as mission specialist Greg Harbaugh who's chiefly in charge of the docking system used two motors through a control panel at the aft flight deck of Atlantis's flight deck to drive that docking mechanism upward to its fully extended position of 13 inches above the top of the docking system. This will enable Commander Hood Gibson to use this image aboard Atlantis on the aft flight deck on a special TV camera he has set up back there in order to perfectly align the docking ring on the orbiter docking system with that of the crystal module. The three well it's a good image Greg and we have a good mux now we see it's going to be spectacular looking at a mere space station through there. Yes sir it certainly will be. On the right side of the screen the image of the centerline camera all right let's begin the interview then I'll tell you all that we are on tape we're not live so everybody can relax. This is a this is a very exciting mission if all goes as planned tomorrow tomorrow morning you will reach out and shake hands with the Russian cosmonauts for the first docking with the Russians in 20 years is there a sense do you feel a sense of history on this mission I'll begin with you commander Gibson. I guess I would have to say yes very much so I very much feel a sense of history and of following a tradition that we started 20 years ago in getting to continue in something that it has taken us a long time to pick up on again but very much feeling as though we are continuing in some footsteps that were laid down a long long time ago and of course any kind of effort like this is a monumental team effort there's an awful lot of work that's been going on on this flight for the last three years we're very pleased that it's all coming together very nicely and yes we very much feel a little bit of a flow of history as we proceed here. The docking tomorrow will be very very complicated two two spacecraft that weigh more than a than a hundred tons trying to come together very precisely in orbit commander Gibson how complicated is that going to be? Doreen it's it's kind of hard to compare it in complexity to anything we do in our in our everyday lives I've never driven an 18-wheeler so I don't I don't know about the complexity in one of those but it is a it is a complex sequence of events that we need to choreograph very carefully that we all need to fly very carefully we have a very constraining corridor that we must stay within or we could conceivably damage the solar arrays on the mirror for example we have a limited amount of fuel to do all this with so all of which says it's a it's a complex sequence of events it's a very constrained sequence of events now now having made it all sound very difficult I will tell you that in the simulator we had very very good success and we've done this probably a couple of hundred times in the simulator so we're looking forward very eagerly to doing it for real and for doing it tomorrow. Bonnie Dunbar you you trained as the as the backup to to Norm Thaggert who is up aboard the the mirror right now you're in a in a kind of a unique position to to talk to us a little bit about some of the differences between the russian space program and the american space program and some of the some of the real challenges you all are having to overcome can can you talk about that a little bit think what I learned primarily is that right now the two programs are very complimentary we have a very unique transportation vehicle and its capability to launch with its payload and bring it back and they have a permanently orbiting space station both programs had intended to develop both elements the russians had developed a shuttle called baran and we're developing a space station internationally now with the russians as well so they're very complimentary I think the biggest challenge all along has not been the vision or the mathematics or the working together it's really been trying to to learn each other's language or come to a common language and so that we can communicate our thoughts and our concepts and our technical language let me let me turn to your to your cosmonaut colleagues now colonel salobia what do you think the russians bring to the american space program and and what does the american space program bring to the russian i think that first of all you have to acknowledge that there are things that can be exchanged i think we have a good broad experience in piloting and in orbit so for example we have equipment that's been working for many years from the point of view of the american space program its contribution I think the new technologies and ideas will allow us to significantly accelerate the development of the space station all right I have a question now for Nikolai buddharan this is your first space flight what do you think so far well as concerns my being the rookie and uh now uh with this flight there's one cosmonaut more in the world the actual launch there was nothing common about it it was excellent owing to the excellent training owing to the excellent training that we received I have lost IFB because being inside the cabin there is no external effect that can be observed and it's probably much more interesting to observe observe this from the side as as a bystander particularly the launch but inside from inside it differed little from training of course there was a lot of overloading g-forces during launch these did not affect me too bad too badly we have a very challenging and rewarding program under foot here and we're very honored to have the opportunity to be up here taking part in it all right thank you all