Mir Marks 15 Years in Orbit

The Russian space industry is marking the 15th anniversary of space station Mir being sent into orbit -- just a few weeks before it is due to return to Earth.

The space station will be brought back to Earth in what Russia describes as a controlled return in about a month with remnants that survive the re-entry into the atmosphere crash landing into the Pacific Ocean.

Russian Space Agency chief Yuri Koptev said: "The Mir has lived a wonderful life and must end it in a graceful way,"

"We must discard it while we are still capable of controlling it, not turn its descent into a roulette that threatens the entire global community."

Koptev said that the Mir would be directed to a stretch of the South Pacific about equidistant between Australia and Chile in mid-March, with the exact date depending on solar activity.

Some 1,500 fragments of the station are expected to survive the fiery re-entry and fall into an ocean area 200 kilometres wide by 6,000 kilometres long (120 miles by 3,600 miles), Koptev said.

People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/