Russia considers ditching Mir space station

Even disposing of Mir will prove costly

MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) -- Experts have recommended that Russia make arrangements to ditch the ageing Mir space station into the Pacific Ocean.

Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov said Mir had outlived its scientific usefulness compared to the $60 billion International Space Station, which is under construction.

He said on Tuesday that a committee of Russian designers had debated the future of Mir in a series of meetings at mission control near Moscow.

While no decision has yet been taken, Energiya, the corporation running Mir, has warned that funding is urgently needed to keep it from crashing to Earth.

"This decision was taken by chief designers several days ago," Klebanov said in New Dehli where he is accompanying President Vladimir Putin on a visit to India.

"The final decision has still to be made by the Russian Space Agency.

"In the past three years (Mir) has mainly been used as a testing ground for the International Space Station, and we see no way to provide research programmes for it.

"If the decision is made, Mir will be downed in a pre-arranged location in the Pacific Ocean -- quite a safe place."

Mir has been in orbit for 14 years, nearly three times its planned lifespan, but is now considered unsafe due to a lack of funding and maintenance.

A spacecraft is due to be sent into space in October with a payload of fuel to keep Mir flying.

It is understood that Russia is preparing two more spacecraft to help steer Mir into the Pacific once the government finally decided its fate.

Klebanov said the decision to keep Mir flying had resulted from a "coincidence of circumstances," and that it cost $20 million a year to keep it in operation.

"It has no more scientific prospects today," he said. "It's a pity, but maintaining it is quite expensive. You must remember that a lot of cash will be needed even to end Mir's existence."

One space expert in Moscow suggested that the committee's recommendation might have been made as a way to put pressure on the Russian government to come up with more financing.

Energiya has said in a news release posted on its Internet site that the participants in the meeting "stressed...that the flight of the space complex might degenerate into an ungoverned fall to earth with unpredictable, catastrophic consequences."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Mir Space Station
International Space Station
NASA
Russian Government
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