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WA6LIE > MIR 02.06.99 18:53l 45 Lines 1634 Bytes #-9813 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : WA6LIE39452
Read: DF6CB DL2MDE DL7AGU GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: END OF MIR IS SOON
Path: DB0AAB<DB0PV<DB0WGS<OE5XBL<OE3XBS<OM0PBM<OK0PAB<HA5OB<WU3V<WB0TAX<
KA6EYH<N7NEI<WH6IO<N6EEG<N6IYA<KI6EH<WA6LIE
Sent: 990602/0041 39452@WA6LIE.#WCCA.CA.USA.NOAM
Tuesday June 1 8:41 AM ET
Mir Crew To Leave in August
By GREG MYRE Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - The Mir's current crew will abandon the Russian space station
in August, and the orbiter will circle Earth unmanned until early next year,
when it is expected to burn up in the atmosphere, space officials said today.
Russia's cash-strapped government has only agreed to finance the 13-year-old
space station through August, and says it should be discarded then unless
private funding is found. Repeated attempts to raise the money have failed.
A panel of top Russian space officials decided today that the only option
would be for the three-man crew to leave in August, said Vyacheslav
Mikhailichenko, a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency.
Prior to the crew's departure, they will install a new computer allowing
ground controllers to command the station without a crew on board, Russian
news reports said.
Mir's orbit, currently about 240 miles above Earth, will gradually diminish.
At about 125 miles above the Earth, ground controllers will send a final
command that will cause the station to burn up in the atmosphere.
That will probably happen in February or March, officials said.
The Mir was plagued by several serious accidents in 1997, but has been
running relatively smoothly since then.
Russian space officials have said the Mir could safely remain in space for
several more years, but the government has refused to put up any additional
cash.
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Via the sarex mailing list at AMSAT.ORG courtesy of AMSAT-NA.
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