mir_onthefall_010209 WASHINGTON -- 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.
Mir deorbit simulations between Russian and U.S. ground stations could begin in two weeks. The joint exercises are to help prep teams for the exchange of precise tracking data on Mir as the huge station enters its final swings around Earth.
The exact day the 15-year old Mir nosedives toward Earth is still at issue.
The latest Mir reentry date, according to some predictions, is now March 12. This could shift back or forward about four days, depending on unpredictable solar activity that varies the density of Earth's atmosphere, which, in turn, creates a drag on the Russian complex.
One enterprising group of space watchers plans to be on hand to see Mir's tumble from orbit.
Drop zone
Russian controllers are planning to deliberately maneuver the giant Russian facility into Earth's atmosphere using a heavily
fueled Progress M1 ferry vehicle attached to Mir.A step-by-step plan involves a critical set of Progress engine firings that ends off the east coast of Russia. Mir is then on a descending trajectory that hopefully plops it down clear of Australia, New Zealand, the Marquesas Islands and other oceanic terra firma.
The crash site for Mir is gigantic: about 3,726 miles (6,000 kilometers) long and 124 miles (200 kilometers) wide.
The Mir weighs some 130 tons (118,182 kilograms), with over 50 tons (45,455 kilograms) of space hardware expected to survive the fiery fall and smack into the ocean.
"The Russians are getting ready. They are pros and have been in this business a long time," said Joseph Loftus, assistant director for engineering in space and life sciences at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. "They've done a lot of this kind of disposal in the past. But Mir is 15 years old and it's creaky," he told SPACE.com.
Trial runs
Loftus said a special team at NASA's Johnson Space Center would provide Russian Mir handlers U.S. radar tracks of the orbiting station. That information will help precisely nudge Mir toward its watery grave.
Electronic linkage of Russian and NASA experts draws upon procedures, protocols and equipment already in place and used to operate
the International Space Station, Loftus said.Practice runs between NASA and Mir operators could start around Feb. 23, Loftus said.
"We want to make sure that all the parties are wired together properly. We don't want people talking to each other for the first time when this is for real," Loftus said.
The European Space Agency (ESA), Loftus said, has also been requested by Russia to aid in bringing Mir down by providing radar tracking using one of its antennas.
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ESA was involved
in tracking Russia's Salyut 7 that dove back to Earth in early 1991. That station broke up over South America with debris raining down over Argentina. A large fragment of Salyut 7 wound up in a household garden.Mir hunting
Nothing like a good reentry to brighten up the day.
That's the view of Bob Citron, leader of an expedition of space watchers who want to see history go down in flames.
Citron is assembling an international band of interested skywatchers wanting to eye in person the fall of Mir. He is no stranger to space
as founder of Spacehab, Incorporated, and as a former satellite tracker for the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in the early days of the space program.Now a well-heeled devotee of space events, including shuttle launches, asteroid and comet tracking, as well as eclipse hopping around the globe, Citron is primed for Mir's reentry.
"It'll be like nothing anyone on Earth has ever seen," Citron said. "Like an eclipse, it should be so awesome that it's like a religious experience. This is
the largest human-made object ever to [be] brought down in a controlled way. It's going to be spectacular," he said.Citron and the Mir expedition group are plunking down cash to charter an aircraft that would fly under the predicted reentry corridor.
With tons of Mir wreckage sure to survive the dive to Earth, is Citron worried about being hit and killed by falling flotsam?
"What a way to go," Citron said, adding that the risk was very small.
A little error goes a long way
Accurately controlling Mir to a safe ocean disposal is sure to be tricky.
"If Mir is not where it's supposed to be, that'll be the issue with anybody going out to see anything," said William Ailor, director of The Aerospace Corporation's Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies in El Segundo, California.
"If there are any glitches, it will affect whether bringing down Mir goes off successfully or not," Ailor said.
If the Russian outpost is off track, even a slight error could mean a big miss of the projected landing spot.
Stability of the huge cluster of modules and stretched out solar panels during deorbit maneuvers is critical, Ailor said.
"It wouldn't surprise me to see something happen...that Mir doesn't land in the predicted area. But the Russian's are very good at what they do. So there's a good probability that they'll be successful," Ailor said.
Ailor said that a lot of Mir -- particularly equipment, cosmonaut handbooks and other materials carried inside the complex -- would be protected against the searing heat of reentry and likely make it down to the surface.
"There's been nothing like this...and everything has to happen right the first time," Ailor said.
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