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Mir Space Station to Crash in Pacific Ocean Voice of America, March 19, 2001 Russian space agency officials have confirmed the orbiting Mir space station will make its fiery re-entry into earth's atmosphere this Friday, a day later than planned. Mission control says the operation was delayed by 24 hours because the orbiting station is dropping more slowly than expected. They say pieces of Mir will crash into the southern Pacific Ocean between Australia and Chile on Friday. Russian space officials say they have shifted the target zone for the splashdown of the aging Mir space station next week. Several countries are concerned that the station may veer off course during its fall to Earth. The head of Russian mission control says the target zone was moved slightly to avoid the chance that debris might fall on several uninhabited French islands in the South Pacific. Vladimir Solovyov says the change will not affect plans to bring Mir down about a week from now in a remote corner of the Pacific between Chile and New Zealand. Officials say most of the station should burn up as it passes through the atmosphere. They estimate that 1,500 fragments, some as large as a small car, will make it down to Earth's surface. The splashdown zone was chosen to be far away from air and sea routes. However, Australia, Japan, Chile and other countries are worried about what might happen if things go wrong. The station will fly over Australia and Japan in its final orbit. Controllers will fire thrusters three times over a 24 hour period to steer Mir toward the splashdown area. International concern has risen because of the many mishaps that have occurred aboard MIR in recent years, including a fire, collision with a cargo ship and loss of stabilizer control. Last December engineers briefly lost contact with the station when its batteries abruptly lost power. Even the Russians have some doubts: last week the government said it would take out a $200 million insurance policy against the chance some debris will fall on populated areas. In another space-related development, Russian officials have declined a request from the U.S. space agency NASA to delay the flight of an American millionaire up to the international space station. Dennis Tito has been training with the Russian space program for months to be the first so-called "space tourist." He reportedly has paid $20 million for the right to ride a Soyuz supply ship up to the orbiting space station in late April. NASA says Mr. Tito could interfere with the work of the space station's crew, and has asked for his flight to be delayed until later in the year. However, the cash-strapped Russian space agency says it must honor its contract with Mr. Tito.
© 2001 TruthNews. All Rights Reserved. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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