Japan Cautions Okinawa Residents to Stay Indoors During Mir's Final Pass
Japan's crisis management minister Bummei Ibuki said Wednesday he will ask local governments to request that people stay indoors while the abandoned Russian space station Mir descends through the atmosphere to crash into the Pacific.

Cosmonaut Who Helped Baptize Mir Will Oversee Its Burial
The shift led by mission controller cosmonaut and two-time Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Solovyov will dump the Mir space station.

March 23rd: D-Day for Mir; Initial Rocket Burn at 3:30 a.m. Moscow Time
The deorbit of the Mir space station has been tentatively set for March 23, an official said. The date was targeted by Ballistics experts of the Mission Control Center (MCC) and the Moscow-based Keldysh Institute of Applied Mechanics who gathered in Korolyov on March 19.

Mir Vets On Alpha: It's Time To Retire Aging Russian Station
The Mir space station's fiery demise next week will be cheerless and charged with emotion, but the time has come to retire the venerable outpost.

Russians Test Progress Control Systems for Mir Backup
The Mission Control Center (MCC) in Korolyov activated the control system on the Progress cargo ship that is docked to Mir, a Russian space official said. The Progress' rocket engines will be used to deorbit the station.

Mir Mission Control Sets Deorbit Burn Time and Date
The Mission Control Center (MCC) of Korolyov has set a more precise date for the planned reentry of Mir and agreed to slightly trim down the area in the Pacific Ocean designated for deorbiting of the 15-year old station, officials said.

Despite New Deorbit Route Japan Wary of Mir
Russia said Thursday its abandoned space station Mir may fly over islands in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture and its vicinity, after implying Wednesday's safety notice for Japan only referred to its main islands.

World Without Mir: Whither Russia's Manned Space Program?
The Mission Control Center in Korolyov, outside Moscow, believes that March 22 is the most likely day for bringing down and sinking the Mir space station.

Mir Deorbit Date Moves to March 22
The Mission Control Center in Korolyov, outside Moscow, believes that March 22 is the most likely day for bringing down and sinking the Mir space station.

Aging Space Station Mir Hurtles Over Indian Capital
Astronomers spotted Russia's Mir space station hurtling over Indian skies on Monday night and said the aging craft is expected to be visible to the naked eye in New Delhi for the next three nights.

Russia's Plan For Shorter, Simpler Mir Deorbit Poses Risks
The Mission Control Center (MCC) in Korolyov chose to shorten and simplify the Mir deorbiting plan in an effort to minimize risks, despite safety concerns expressed by an independent think tank.

Mir Control System Activated for Descent, Dumping in Pacific
The Mission Control Center (MCC) of Korolyov has set a more precise date for the planned reentry of Mir and agreed to slightly trim down the area in the Pacific Ocean designated for deorbiting of the 15-year old station.

Japanese Defense Chief Postpones U.S. Visit 'Til After Mir Deorbit
Japanese Defense Agency chief Toshitsugu Saito said Tuesday he will postpone his planned visit to the United States Sunday because Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori will be there around the same time.

Mir Plunge to Get Electronic Helping Hand
Here at the U.S. Space Commands Space Control Center, one blip on the screen currently attracting increased attention is simply tagged: 016609. This is Russias Mir space station, the historic orbiting outpost that housed numerous space travelers

The Odds and Ends of Space Station Mir
When the Mir space station makes its fiery plunge to Earth in the coming days, more than 130 tons of space junk will reenter Earth's atmosphere. About one-third of the complex is expected to survive and crash somewhere in the south Pacific Ocean.

Mir's Main Computer Back Online
Mission Control in Korolyev started up Mir's main computer on Monday morning.

Mir's Fall Spurs Singapore To Seek Tighter Space Junk Laws
The planned dumping of Russia's Mir space station in the South Pacific next week has driven Asian policymakers to demand new laws governing outer space.

Mir Passes Critical Orbit Threshold
The Russian space station Mir descended 1.8 kilometers (a little more than 1 mile) on Saturday, the press service for mission control outside Moscow has told Interfax.

Mir To Deorbit According to Schedule
Russia's aging space station Mir will be taken out of operation and dumped in the Pacific Ocean in 10 days.

Mir Altitude Nears Critical Juncture; Pacific Nations Seek Safety Assurances
The altitude of the Russian space station Mir on Friday fell to about 156 miles (251 kilometers), a near-critical value.

Russia Sets March 20 as Deorbit Date
The aging and problem-plagued Russian space station Mir will plunge into the Pacific Ocean on March 20, give or take a day.

Mir Deorbit Dates Moved Back; Event Insured to the Tune of $200 Million
Responsibility to third parties for possible damages related to the deorbiting of the station will be insured for about $200 million.

Aussies, Kiwis Take Mir Deorbit in Stride
When Russias wobbly Mir hits Earth, ideally it will crash as a line of fireballs in the south Pacifics "space junk graveyard," sinking with little fanfare to the bottom of the sea.

 Mir Deorbit Dates Moved Back; Event Insured to the Tune of $200 Million
The final order for deorbiting the Mir space station and sinking it in the planned section of the South Pacific will be given between March 17 and 20, one of the station's makers Leonid Gorshkov told a Tuesday news conference in Moscow.

Mir's Odyssey Grows Quickly to a Close
A battered symbol of Soviet might, the Mir space station is counting down the final days of its 15-year history -- and perhaps of the nation's space glory.

Europe To Share Mir Re-Entry Data With Russia
The European Space Agency has set up a Mir De-Orbit Monitoring Group to acquire, screen and distribute information to ESA member states during the preparation, deorbit and reentry phases of a critical operation, the return of Russian space station Mir to Earth.

U.S. Federal Agencies Networked for Mir Fall
The U.S. government is coordinating federal agencies to prepare for the fall of the Russian Mir space station. In the event that an out-of-control Mir crashes in the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is ready to respond to the calamity.

Meet the Mir Trackers: Bob & Rick Citron Prepare to Rendezvous with History
The tumble from orbit of Russias Mir space station is becoming a spectator sport. And leading the charge in an attempt to capture the 15-year-old spacecraft's demise in the skies above the south Pacific is Bob Citron, leader of the private U.S.-based Mir Reentry Observation Expedition.

Key Russian Space Officials, Mir Designers Rebuff Station Rescue Attempts
Any questions about the Russian space community's attitude towards the upcoming deorbit of the Mir space station were put to rest late last week in an open letter from key Russian space officials. The verdict is in -- Mir must go.

Russia Marks Mir's 15th Anniversary by Assuaging Fears of Its Demise
On the eve of the Mir space station's 15th year in orbit -- and less than a month before its scheduled dumping in the south Pacific -- Russian space officials on Monday hailed the craft's achievements and downplayed concerns about its planned fiery plunge to Earth.

SPACE.com Contributor to Join Veteran Cosmonauts on Mir Tracking Mission
SPACE.com's Moscow contributing correspondent Yuri Karash will be joining four senior Mir cosmonauts and one of the space station's designers as part of MirReentry.com, the private American airborne expedition being organized to witness Mir's plunge into the south Pacific.

Russian Communist Leader Says Mir Failure Due to Weak Leadership
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov called on Monday for the complete or partial replacement of Russia's "helpless, weak-willed, inefficient and not very responsible" government.

Russians Protest Deorbiting of Mir
Defenders of the Mir space station organized a protest rally in downtown Moscow, Thursday, not far from the mayors office. The event's organizers believe the destruction of the space station would leave the country lagging in the exploration of space.

Russia Asks NASA, Europeans for Help with Massive Mir Reentry
Russia has requested assistance from both NASA and the European Space Agency to safely dump the Mir space station in south Pacific waters early next month.

U.S. Group Plans Air Trip To View Mir's Fiery Death
A small group of space enthusiasts plans to charter an aircraft to witness up close the event of a lifetime -- the fiery death next month of the Russian Mir space station as it hurtles into the south Pacific.

Space Adventures, Not MirCorp, Brokered Tito Trip to ISS
Space Adventures, the Arlington, Virginia-based company that offers space experiences like zero-gravity flights to private citizens, announced today that it was key in arranging California millionaire Dennis Tito's proposed flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

Russians Continue to Debate Saving Mir
Public debate within Russia over the technical and political consequences of ending space station Mir's life in orbit is getting more intense as the date for that event draws nearer with each passing day.

Mir Deorbit May Be Delayed to March 10
The Mir station is descending about 1,640 feet (500 meters) a day, sources at the Mission Control Center in Korolyov have said. At present, the station is 182 miles (293 kilometers) above Earth, while the calculated orbit is about 250 miles (400 kilometers).

Mir Almost at Point of No Return
The Progress M-43 cargo spacecraft that had been docked to Mir since February 3, 2000 was deorbited on Jan. 28, at 9:58 p.m. EST (Jan. 29 at 02:58 GMT; 5:58 a.m. Moscow time). The spacecraft was undocked from the outpost on Jan. 24, three days before the Progress M1-5 docking, and left drifting near the station.

Progess Set to Launch Thursday With Fuel to Dump Mir Into Ocean
All systems remain go for the scheduled launch this week of the Progress supply ship that is to help sink the Russian space station Mir into the Pacific Ocean on March 6.

Contact With Mir Regained After 21 Hour Blackout
An unexpected loss of contact with the Mir space station fed fears of an uncontrolled plunge for the troubled Russian orbiter, but a relieved Mission Control said Tuesday it had regained contact with the vessel after 20 hours of silence.

Mir's Deorbit Will Rain Down Wreckage; But Where?
Russia is on track to crash its history-making Mir space station into a huge, desolate zone of South Pacific waters in late February. The deliberate ditching of the Russian outpost will produce a sizeable shower of hardware that will reach Earth's surface.

Russian Ultranationalists Fight to Save Mir
On Thursday, members of Russia's Liberal-Democratic Party put forward a resolution in the Duma, the lower chamber in Russia's parliament, aimed at rescuing the Mir space station.

Mir Cosmonauts Lament and Laud the Deorbiting of Station
With the announcement that the Mir space station will be dumped into the Pacific Ocean in February 2001, cosmonauts who once served on the orbiting war-horse believe that while its death was inevitable, its legacy will endure.

Mir Deorbiting Welcomed In Washington
Russias decision to abandon the Mir space station, long feared to be draining resources from the International Space Station (ISS), was welcome news in Washington.

Mir Space Station to Be Brought Down to Earth in February
The Russian space station Mir will be crashed into the Pacific Ocean on February 27 or 28, the general director of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) said Thursday.

Russia May Send Crew to Mir In January
Russia may send a new crew to the Mir space station on Jan. 18, but the government hasn't decided how much longer to keep the 14-year-old outpost in orbit, an official said Tuesday.

Russian Space Chief: Government Must Make Sure Mir Doesn't Crash
The Russian space agency chief said Wednesday that the government will work out a plan to safely discard the Mir space station to prevent its uncontrolled plunge to Earth.

Funding to Deorbit Mir Confirmed, Russian Official Says
The Russian government has set aside the $25 million needed to bring down the Mir space station, an official said.

Astronaut Sees Mir Demise Paving Way for New Era
Russia will be able to play a fuller role in the International Space Station (ISS) if it sticks to plans to ditch its Mir orbiter next year, a senior U.S. space official said Monday.

New Russian Funds May Save Space Station Mir, For Now
A recent budgetary decree approved by the Russian government could keep the venerable Russian space station Mir aloft -- at least in the near term.

Who Will Save Mir?
Recent speculation has pointed to U.S. movie director James Cameron as a potential savior for the Mir space station, but neither his own spokespeople, nor the Russian space agency said they know anything of such a plan.

Russian Space Agency Considers Deorbiting Mir
The fate of the Mir space station remained uncertain Tuesday, with a Russian design board pressing the government for funds to either keep the orbital outpost in space or deorbit it in February 2001.

Mir Funding in Doubt
Russia's Mir space station is at another crossroads, as its Western backers race against time to come up with enough funding to keep the outpost in orbit next year.

Cosmonauts to Occupy Mir Continuously In 2001
2001 could prove to be the year of the space station. If all goes according to plans, not only will the International Space Station (ISS) be open for business -- so will Russia's orbital outpost, Mir.

Mir Veterans Glad Station Is Reopening for Business
Overall, the Russian space community is happy about Mir's reoccupation.

Mir Crew: Two Cosmonauts, No Actor
SPACE.com's Yuri Karash interviewed Sergei Zaletin, the commander of the mission to Russia's space station Mir set for launch early Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This interview took place before the decision to exclude actor Vladimir Steklov from the mission. For comparison and completeness, Karash also interviewed the mission's flight engineer, Alexander Kalery -- after the decision to leave out Steklov. Read on for insights into the two men who will lead this mission.

Mir Lives: Supply Mission Set for Tuesday Launch
A supply-filled space freighter will be launched from Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket Tuesday in a bid to begin reviving Russias abandoned Mir space station.

Mir Gets Private Money and Green Light from the Government
Russian plans to rejuvenate the Mir space station are a step closer to reality on Wednesday, as the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, (Rosaviacosmos), formally approved a 45-day mission to the orbital outpost.

Mir: A Rich Chronology
Heralding what would become an exciting era in space exploration, on February 20, 1986 the Soviet Union announced the launch of its new space station called Mir.

Mir Milestones in History
On February 20, 1986, the Soviet Union announced the launch of its new space station called Mir (which means "peace" and "world" in Russian).