The Russian Space Agency (RSA) plans to begin bringing down its long-serving Mir 1 space station in 1999, provided that the new International Space Station is operating on schedule by then, with a resident crew.
Yuri Koptev, RSA director-general, says that it would be possible to operate both space stations, but that it would be "expedient, given the resources at our disposal", to take the space station out of orbit. The core module of the Mir was launched in 1986.
Three Progress unmanned tanker-supply ships will be used to lower the station's 400km orbit. This will take place over a period of nine months so that it can be commanded to make a final manoeuvre to take it out of orbit, using the last Progress craft.
Koptev says that the Mir may remain manned right up to, but "not including", the final descent into the ocean, to ensure that this is conducted safely.
Meanwhile, Rostislav Bodgashevsky, a Russian space psychologist who has worked with the cosmonaut team for 35 years, is reported in a local interview to have accused Mir managers of "callous disregard" of the crews.
He says that the Mir crews are overloaded by mission control to such an extent that he describes them as like "galley slaves" and working in a "sweatshop".
He says that, when the collision of the Progress tanker with the Mir space station took place in June, the crew was "too tired and unprepared for the ill-fated docking attempt".
Source: Flight International
