A Mir Miss

Rummaging through a bunch of old copies of Astronomy magazine I found a fascinating article in the March 1990 issue. It describes the efforts of amateur satellite trackers following the docking of the Kvant II module to the much-missed space station Mir. I thought I would quote the article whole; this should bring back a few memories for some (not me though, as I was at university at the time):

AMATEURS WATCH SOVIETS BUILD MIR

"In early December 1989 Canadian amateur astonomers observed a critical step in the construction of the Soviet Mir space station. The mission was the docking of a 46-foot long module called Kvant II with the existing Mir, doubling the size of the station. But the Kvant rendezvous was not without its problems, problems that were observed by Canadian amateurs.
"The Kvant II module was launched on November 26, 1989. The plan was a December 2 rendezvous with Mir, then manned by two cosmonauts. A successful docking was critical to the Soviet's (sic) expansion of the Mir complex. The Kvant II, unlike its predecessor, Kvant I, is not just an experiement and telescope unit, but also a living quarters module with an EVA hatch, robot arm, and additional solar panels. Kvant II is the first of three house-sized modules scheduled to be added to Mir over the next few years.
"On December 2 Radio Moscow announed that the unmanned Kvant had failed to make the final orbital corrections required for the rendezvous. Canadian amateur satellite tracker Ted Molcazan of Toronto, Ontario, who monitors Radio Moscow for just such news, alerted amateur astronomers across Canada. Molczan calculated when Mir and Kvant would be visible from Canada. Amateur astonomers in Alberta, Manitoba and southern Ontario were able to watch the two craft pass overhead on several orbits over the next few nights. Both appeared as star-like objects with a magnitude of -1.
"On December 2 Kvant and Mir were about 3 minutes apart. Timings of the passages over the next few nights helped Molczan determine the actual orbits of the two craft. Kvant was indeed slowly closing in on Mir. Observations like these help space program enthusiasts follow both Soviet and U.S. missions first hand, supplementing the often sketchy information from official news sources.
"By December 6 the Soviets had overcome the initial problem and completed the docking. The net step in the expansion of Mir is the addition of another Kvant module this month. Amateur satellite trackers around the world will be watching with interest.
"Amateurs who wish to participate in tracking satellites like Mir are invited to call Ted Molczan at (416) xxx-xxxx for more information. Molczan can also be reached via modem by leaving a message on the Canadian Space Society Bulletin Board at (416) xxx-xxxx (2400 baud, 24 hours, no fee)."

I particularly like the reference to a bulletin board and the phone number. (I have blanked out the numbers deliberately.)

I wonder if Ted did get any response to that call for observations in March 1990...