experiments with applications to the Hermes shuttle program. Volkov and Chrétien then assembled the 240 kg (530 lb) experimental deployable structure (known as ERA). They attached a mount to handrails on the frustum linking the multiport docking unit to the small-diameter portion of the work compartment. After resolving problems with cables linking ERA to a control panel inside Mir, they attached the folded ERA structure to a support arm on the platform. The structure was designed to unfold to form a flat six-sided structure 1 metre deep by 3.8 metres across. From inside Mir, Krikalev commanded the structure to unfold, but to no avail. Volkov then kicked ERA, causing it to unfold properly. According to Krikalev, taking the ERA outside helped relieve the crowding problems. The EVA lasted 5 hours and 57 minutes. The crew took with them a cassette of Pink Floyd's newly released live album Delicate Sound of Thunder (minus the cassette box, for weight reasons) and played it in orbit; this was claimed by David Gilmour to have been the first rock music recording in space. The tape was left on Mir when the mission crew returned to Earth. References Crewed Soyuz missions Spacecraft launched in 1988 1988 in the Soviet Union France–Soviet Union relations Interkosmos program