The doomed Russian space station Mir could be given a few days additional reprieve from its planned demise with its downing put off to March 18 or 20, the spokesman for Russia’s space control centre said Tuesday.
“We will probably bring Mir to a lower altitude than previously considered in order to save fuel” for the final plunge, Sergei Gorbunov said during an interview published on the Internet.
Another space expert, Leonid Gorshkov of the space construction company RKK Energuia, said the operation would take place “between March 17 and 20,” with the order being given when its altitude had fallen to “around 215 kilometres (130 miles),” RIA-Novosti reported.
The date for Mir’s destruction had previously been given as between March 10 and 15, with the operation being launched at a height of around 250 kilometres.
It is due to enter the atmosphere and burn up most of its mass, the remaining debris falling into the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Chile.
