MIR, the Russian spacestation is going off air!. Recent news
reports have Mir's planned re-entry now occurring on March 23, 2001 at
around 05:50 UTC 80 km above the local day-night (dusk) terminator line
in the South Pacific at 175 West longitude and 25 South latitude. Look
at a graphic of Mir's approximate reentry location.
The Mir Space Station floats above us (390 Km, at an inclination of
51.6 degrees), having completed-to-date over 83,500 trips around the Earth.
In its fourteen years in orbit, cosmonauts and astronauts from dozens of
nations have lived on the station and performed experiments of historical
significance.
Mir is the culmination of the Russian space program's efforts
to maintain long-duration human presence in space. The permanently-manned
space station regularly hosts 2 to 3 cosmonauts (on occasion up to 6, for
shorter periods of up to a month). At present, Mir is a complex of different
modules that have been through many mutations; modules get added and moved
around, like a giant tinker toy in the sky. Living in space, scientists
perform scientific and technical experiments, and are able to record real-data
on life in space. Mir provides the facilities for wide-reaching research
ranging from space life sciences, microgravity, and space technology experiments,
to earth observation and sciences, and space sciences. The RussianSpace
Agency (RKA) was formed after the breakup of the former Soviet Unionand
the dissolution of the Soviet space program. The RKA uses the technology
and launch sites that belong to the former Soviet space program . Currently,
the RKA has certralized control of Russia's civilian spce program, including
all mannded and unmanned nonmilitary space flights. The highest profile
program the the RKA is currently flying is the MIR Space Station. In addition,
the Russian Space Agency is one of our partners in the International Space
Station program. A past program that was pursued by the former Soviet space
agency was the shuttle Buran program. The Soviet space program was also
the first nation to launch a satellite into orbit (Sputnik 1) and competed
against the United States in the race to the moon.
Countdown:
The world's oldest space station, Mir, is expected to break
up and crash into the South Pacific on Friday. Despite assurances from
Russia that Mir's controlled descent poses no threat to anyone, the Japanese
government has urged people to stay indoors to avoid being hit by debris.
After 15 years in space, Mir, the oldest space station will be taken
out of orbit by the Russians. Even though the Russians say its plunge into
the waters between Chile and Australia will be controlled, Japan is taking
no chances. According to Bunmei Ibuki, Japanese Minister for Crisis Management,
"We would urge the people to stay indoor at that hour and listen carefully
to the information from the municipal government so as to prepare for the
extra special precaution."
Most of the 150-ton space station is expected to burn up in the atmosphere.
However, Russian officials estimate 1,500 fragments, weighing a total of
up to 27 tons, could reach the earth's surface. Ships and planes have been
warned to avoid the area on Friday.
In Fiji, a group of Russian cosmonauts, engineers, American space enthusiasts,
all got a flash of the falling station as it made a quick low pass of about
10 seconds before entering its second circle of orbit. They say Mir looked
more like a shooting star. Mr. Vladimir Titov, Mir Cosmonaut, said, "Now
when station finish the flight, I (am) very sad, I am sad because the station
has some potential with technique, with experiments, with power to extend
its flight."
Not surprisingly Mir related tourism has become big business. A Mir
Re-entry.com expedition is in Fiji and Two Americans have planned to follow
part of the station's re-entry by plane to see where it actually lands.
Facts on MIR:
The station has been in orbit for more than 14 years.
Mir orbits 225 miles (362 kilometers) above Earth -- about the distance
from New York City to Boston.
It circles the planet about 16 times a day. 
It moves at about 17,500 m.p.h. (28,163 kilometers per hour).
Mir consists of six modules carrying 11.3 tons (11,481 kilograms) of
equipment.
Overall, the complex weighs about 130 tons (132,080 kilograms).
It includes 6 modules arranged in a T-shape.
Mir has been home to more than 100 cosmonauts, astronauts and other
visitors.
Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov set the record for the longest stay in space
and on Mir -- 438 days in 1994-95.
Equipment on Mir was manufactured in 27 countries.
More than 16,500 experiments have conducted so far on the station.
Some 24 international programs have been realized on Mir during its
life in orbit.
The station's development resulted in more than 600 new technologies,
which later turned out to be useful to industry.
The orbiting outpost has been a site for experiments to prepare for
these future technologies:
Spacecraft assembly and launch from orbit
Illumination of the polar regions of Earth
Construction of space-tether systems
Refining laser-communication systems
Probing Earth's ionosphere from low orbit
Russian specialists believe that the overall cost of Mir is $3 billion.
Some Russian experts say the station is in the middle, rather than at
the end, of its real life span
Well so much for the MIR station. Hats off to the scientists for making
one and farerwell bid to MIR.
