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W4DPH > SAT 20.03.01 05:19l 38 Lines 1525 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-077.04
Read: GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: MIR END IS NEAR
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Sent: 010320/0305Z @:W4DPH.#TPA.FL.USA.NOAM #:3362 [CLW] FBB $:ANS-077.04
From: W4DPH@W4DPH.#TPA.FL.USA.NOAM
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT NEWS SERVICE BULLETIN 077.04 FROM AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD, MARCH 18, 2001
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-077.04
When the space station Mir returns to Earth over the remote South
Pacific in a few days, it will be big news. Several organizations
(such as CNN) are planning live coverage of the de-orbit as it
happens. The Russian outpost is the heaviest thing orbiting our planet
other than the Moon itself!
During its 15-year stint in space, Mir has set endurance and space
adventure records, along with providing hundreds of Amateur Radio
contacts between ham radio satellite operators and onboard
cosmonauts and astronauts.
Scientists expect the space station to put on a good show when it
returns. Mir is put together much like an erector set. It's an
assortment of solar arrays, laboratories and living quarters that was
not designed for aerodynamic flight through the atmosphere. Mir has
a core module and five other components weighing about 143 tons in
all. With a cargo ship and an escape capsule attached, it weighs up
to 154 tons. The modules are arranged in a T-shaped structure, 86 by
96 by 99 feet.
The station will quickly fall apart as it descends toward Earth. "We
expect Mir to break into six or more main pieces when it hits the
atmosphere," said Nicholas Johnson at NASA's Johnson Space
Center. Each piece will resemble a blazing meteor that spits smaller
fireballs as the pieces crumble and burn.
[ANS thanks NASA for this information]
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