![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: Sci/Tech | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |
Friday, 5 January, 2001, 23:10 GMT
Russia signs Mir 'death warrant'
![]() Russia has come under pressure to curtail the Mir mission
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a decree ordering the destruction of the Mir space station after a 15-year mission that has lately been dogged by problems.
Space officials said a supply craft would be launched in the coming weeks to take the final stocks of fuel to Mir to give the station enough momentum to send it back towards Earth. The 137-tonne vessel, which has been unmanned since August 2000, is expected to disintegrate as it re-enters the atmosphere. Fragments of the space station will either burn up or splash down into the Pacific Ocean. Doubts over splash-down Russian space officials hope the fragments will land about 1,500km (900 miles) east of Australia.
Precise dates have not been determined, but on Thursday space officials were quoted as saying the Progress supply rocket would be launched on 18 January and Mir would crash to Earth on 27 or 28 February. More than 100 Russian and foreign cosmonauts have flown on Mir, carrying out scientific experiments and setting a series of space endurance records. The mission was originally intended to last only five years.
|
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Sci/Tech stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Sci/Tech stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Sci/Tech stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |