Mir Reenters Atmosphere Ending Successful 15 Year Mission

The Russian Mir space station ended its mission on March 23 when it reentered the atmosphere and impacted into the Pacific Ocean at approximately 160°W longitude, 40°S latitude. The 130 metric ton (143 ton) Mir reentered the atmosphere at a steeper angle than expected, resulting in the debris falling into a more compact area within the splashdown zone. The space station came down about 930 miles northwest of the planned site.

On March 23 at 0033 UTC the attached Progress M1-5 carried out the first small burn to lower Mir's orbit from 212 x 218 km to 190 x 219 km.  A second small burn began at 0201 UTC to put Mir in a 150 x 215 km orbit. The main deorbit burn began at 0507 UTC, lowering perigee to less than 80 km. Impact occurred at 0559 UTC. Four fragments flashed above Fiji like white balls of fire, with a swarm of smaller debris in their wake. The debris illuminated the early evening sky for about eight seconds, then four thunderous sonic booms shook the island about three minutes later.

Australian and New Zealand emergency officials monitored the descent, reporting the debris hit the target area, with debris falling across a wide area. Defense and civil defense organizations were on alert on Pacific islands throughout the region, including Vanuatu, Nuru and Chile's Easter Island, as well as in Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Japan in case the controlled crash went wrong, plunging wreckage down on land. The Chilean foreign minister registered a complaint with Russian officials about using the ocean as a dumping ground, and New Zealand maritime authorities warned fishermen working in the projected impact zone but found them unwilling to leave.

A fleet of 27 fishing boats in the zone insisted on staying put because the tuna were biting, said Wayne Heikkila, general manager of the Western Fishboat Owners Association.

Five international airline flights due to pass through Mir's target area in the Pacific at the critical time were delayed. Japan issued warnings to the public to stay indoors during a 40 minute timeframe of danger to avoid the remote chance of being hit by debris from Mir.

Taco Bell had set up a 40-by-40 foot vinyl target painted with the company's logo and the words “Free Taco Here!” 10 miles off Australia. In the extremely unlikely event that Mir hit the target, the company promised free tacos to all 281 million Americans. A farmer in Queensland, Australia, provided another target when he plowed a giant "X" into his field.

Mir's demise was witnessed on the web by an estimated 50 million users in less than two hours. The final Mir orbit around the globe can be viewed at the web site http://www.mirreentry.com .

A group of Western and Russian space enthusiasts who had chartered two planes to chase the Mir and record its final moments missed the show. The expedition was patrolling an area to the east.

Rosaviacosmos had purchased a US$200 million third party insurance policy with Megaruss, Avikos and the Industrial Insurance Company to cover the de-orbiting of the Mir space station. The Russian Space and Aviation agency paid a premium of between US$0.6 million and US$1.4 million. London-based insurance companies reinsured related risks.

Mir was launched on February 20, 1986, with an expected life of 5 years. Mir was visited by 104 people from 12 countries, including 42 Russian cosmonauts, 7 U.S. NASA astronauts, with other visitors coming from Britain, France, Germany and other countries. 38 other Americans visited Mir from docking space shuttles.

Nearly 23,000 scientific experiments were conducted aboard Mir. Highlights of about 23,000 scientific experiments conducted on Mir:

TECHNOLOGY: Microgravity allowed production of semiconductors, superlight metals, crystals, fiber optics and medicines of higher quality than those made on Earth.However, production was not on an industrial scale because of high costs of carrying materials to and from orbit.

MEDICINE: Cosmonauts set longevity records, with longest mission by Valery Polyakov, who spent 438 days on Mir in 1994-95. Measures were developed to counter effects of long-term space flight. Doctors say experience would permit manned flights to other planets.

ASTRONOMY: Long-term studies helped explain sun's influence on Earth's climate and radiation environment.

EARTH SURVEY: Observations located forest fires and fishing grounds and collected data for predicting earthquakes.

SPACE REPAIRS: Crews conducted 78 spacewalks, lasting a total of 352 hours, developing new approaches for repairs in space.

MILITARY: Russian media reports said crews worked with some military equipment, but no details have been provided.

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