1998

January 23, Cape Canaveral. Penultimate Shuttle mission to "Mir". Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as the resident NASA astronaut. Endeavour docked with the SO module on "Mir" at 20:14 GMT on January 24, 1998. Despite fits problems with his "Sokol" emergency spacesuit, Andy Thomas replaced David Wolf as a "Mir" crew member on January 25. "Endeavour" undocked from "Mir " on January 29 at 16:57 GMT and made one fly around of the station before departing and landing at Kennedy Space Center's runway 15 at 22:35 GMT on January 31. Febrary 15. Cosmonaut Valentin Gavriyilovich Yershov dies at age of 69. April 24. Cosmonaut Mikhail Fedorovich Rebrov dies at age of 66. May 11. India conducts three atomic tests despite worldwide disapproval. June 16. Six "Strela-3" military communications satellites launched as usual by a single launch vehicle. However the S5M third stage cut off early during its circulisation burn, leaving the satellites in elliptical 1300 x 1900 km orbits. June 24. "Kosmos 2358" h igh resolution photo reconnaissance; returned film in two small SpK capsules during the mission and with the main capsule at completion of the mission. Landed October 22, 1998. June 27. Cosmonaut Boris Nikolayevich Belousov dies at age of 67. July 1. "Molniya-3" launched. Perigee: 501 km. Apogee: 39,850 km. Inclination: 62.8 deg. Period: 717.7 min. COSPAR: 1998-040A. July 7, Barents sea. The first satellite launch from a submarine. The "Shtil-1" launch vehicle was a converted R-29RM (RSM-54) three stage liquid propellant submarine launched ballistic missile made by the Makeyev design bureau. The satellite payload is placed in the standard R-29RM reentry vehicle. The launch platform was the K-407 "Novomoskovsk", a BDRM "Delfin" class submarine (project 667) of the Russian Northern Fleet's 3rd Flotilla. Launch was from the Barents Sea at 69.3 degrees N x 35.3 degrees E. The "Shtil" contained an Israeli instrument package. The launch was made from a firing range in the Barents Sea off the coast of the Kolskiy Peninsula, at 35.3 deg E 69.3 deg N. The payloads were the "Tubsat-N" and "Tubsat-N1" nanosatellites "Tubsat-N " entered a 400 x 776 km x 78.9 deg orbit. Both carried small store-forward communications payloads used to keep track of transmitters placed on vehicles, migrating animals, and marine buoys. They are owned, operated and built by the Technische Universitat Berlin (TUB). July 22. Astronaut Alan Bartlett (Al) Shepard Jr. dies at age of 74 . Leukemia, two years after diagnosis. August 4. Cosmonaut Yuri Petrovich Artyukhin dies at age of 68. August 20. U.S. cruise missiles hit suspected terrorist bases in Sudan and Afghanistan .

June 16 1998 "Six "spy mailbox" satellites launched from Plesetsk have strayed into the wrong orbit, but authorities said Wednesday they can still be used to transmit secret messages to and from intelligence agents. The six satellites - reportedly designed for the intelligence branch of the Russian Defense Ministry - were launched simultaneously early Tuesday from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. By Tuesday night, some were reported to be having trouble finding their proper orbits and on Wednesday, officials said all six had gone astray. The error was caused by an incorrect command, the Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified military official as saying. The satellites, which the military earlier described generically as the "Kosmos" variety, were actually "Strela-3s" - also known as "space mailboxes for Russian spies'', the Russky Telegraf newspaper said. "Strela-3" satellites are used to record radio messages transmitted by Russian intelligence agents throughout the world, and relay those messages to intelligence headquarters in

"Strela-1M" satellite

Moscow. They can also transmit messages sent by Moscow to spies abroad. Until recently, the satellite system was highly classified. Russia's former military intelligence chief, Gen. Col. Fyodor Ladygin, confirmed its existence when Russia decided to start producing a commercial version to earn cash for the underfunded space and military programs, Russky Telegraf said. While the six satellites launched Tuesday were to have gone into a round orbit 868 miles above the Earth, they instead settled into an elliptical one, passing 812 miles above the Earth at the lowest point and 1,171 miles at the highest point, said Mission Control spokesman Anatoly Kiryushkin. The military stillintends to use the satellites, but will have to adjust some settings, Kiryushkin said." The Boston Globe, June 17 1998.

October, 1998. The "Topol-M" missile exploded during its first stage and fell to the ground harmlessly nearby. The missile system, which features a single warhead, is expected to replace the RS-18 and RS-20 multiple-warhead missiles which are to be deactivated by 2007, according to the START-II treaty. This was the fifth test launch of the new system.

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