Mir: 8-Miles From Burn-UpThe Mir space station, having slowly descended to the Earth's outer atmosphere, is just eight-miles from burning up.The aging space station had glided down to about 143-miles above the Earth's surface on Sunday, Russian news reports said. Russia space controllers are allowing Mir to descend gradually in preparation for an operation later this week to dump the 15-year-old, and increasingly accident prone, station in the Pacific Ocean. When it reaches about 135-miles above Earth a cargo ship attached to the station is to fire engines to push the Mir into the thicker layers of the atmosphere, where it should break apart and burn. Any remaining debris from the 130-ton craft is expected to splash down in a 380,000 square mile swathe of the Pacific between New Zealand and Chile, away from major air and sea routes. Originally timed for Wednesday, the burn-up depends on atmospheric conditions. New Zealand civil defence officials have warned that pieces weighing as much as 700 kg (318 lbs) could still survive re-entry and has issued international warnings to ships and aircraft travelling in the area. |
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