Progress Boosts Mir's Orbit


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	Progress Boosts Mir's Orbit posted: 05:28 pm ET 25 October 2000

MOSCOW (AP) - A cargo spacecraft fired its engine Wednesday to lift the Mir space station nine miles into a higher orbit and prevent it from falling uncontrolled into the atmosphere, officials said

MOSCOW (AP) - A cargo spacecraft fired its engine Wednesday to lift the Mir space station nine miles into a higher orbit and prevent it from falling uncontrolled into the atmosphere, officials said.

The maneuver was performed by the Progress M43 cargo ship that docked with the station Saturday and pushed the station to 200 miles above Earth, said Valery Lyndin, a spokesman for the Mission Control.

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"The maneuver was performed to prevent the Mir from uncontrolled descent," Lyndin told The Associated Press. The station is in a relatively low orbit and must be periodically raised.

Russian officials say they plan to dump the nearly 15-year-old station at the end of February unless private funds turn up. Russia had planned to ditch the station this year but it remained aloft after the Netherlands-based MirCorp leased the station for commercial use.

MirCorp executives have been in Moscow trying to persuade the government not to abandon the station. They promised to raise $100 million to $170 million next year.

But Russian space officials have grown skeptical about MirCorp after it failed to pay $10 million for the Progress launch. MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber said increased solar activity forced a launch earlier than planned, and promised that the government would be reimbursed within four weeks.

Despite MirCorp's assurances, the Russian Cabinet scheduled a meeting Thursday to consider earmarking $27 million to bring the Mir down, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Lyndin said that another Progress with 1.7 tons of fuel, twice the regular amount, would have to be launched to the Mir to send it on a controlled descent into the ocean.