MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian newspaper said on Wednesday lawmakers were considering raising cigarette and alcohol taxes to save the troubled and underfunded Mir space station.
Mir has been partially shut down and has orbited earth without a crew since the cash-strapped space program was forced to shut down the orbiter's main computer in September.
If new funds are not found by early next year, space officials say they will steer Mir back toward Earth and let it burn up in the atmosphere.
But the weekly Argumenti i Fakti said Russian legislators were considering raising duties on tobacco and alcohol early next year to generate funds for the sciences, and the six billion rubles ($200 million) raised could be used to save Mir.
A spokesman for the Russian Space Agency told Reuters the proposal remained just that for the moment.
"We're still waiting for the government to come up with an official confirmation of the plan,'' said spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko.
Mir was launched in 1986 and originally designed to last five years. Over the past few years the station has been plagued by accidents, including a fire and a crash with a supply craft.
Russia is presently building the main living quarters of the new International Space Station, but that $60 billion project has experienced frequent delays. The United States wants Russia to abandon Mir and focus its resources on the new station.
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