Anniversary of the Progress spacecraft / Mir Spektr module collision

On June 25, 1997, the Progress M-34 spacecraft crashed into Spektr while doing experimental maneuver for a docking with the Kvant-1 module. The collision damaged one of Spektr’s solar arrays and punctured the hull, depressurizing the module. The module was sealed off from the rest of the station to prevent depressurization of the entire Mir station, but required cutting off the power cables from Spektr’s solar panels, which had to be disconnected manually.

An internal spacewalk in the Spektr module in August 1997 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov, from Soyuz TM-26, succeeded in restoring those power connections by modifying the hatch to allow them to pass through in the closed position. In a second internal spacewalk in October they connected two of the panels to a computer system to allow them to be controlled remotely and align with the Sun. These modifications allowed power generation to return to approximately 70% of the pre-collision generation capability.

Spektr was left depressurized and isolated from the remainder of the Mir complex.

The above image is of the damaged Spektr module.