SPACE

摘要

At the time of writing (March 2001), Mir still dominates the news. It is due to re-enter the earth's atmosphere in the early hours of Thursday 22 March (plus two or minus one day). If all goes according to plan, it should plunge harmlessly into the Pacific Ocean to the east of New Zealand. Indeed, the Mir orbit has been allowed to decay to the point where the Progress rocket which is docked to the spacecraft can initiate the re-entry. It certainly must re-enter now, because the orbit has already decayed so much that the Progress thrusters are not powerful enough to lift Mir back into a stable orbit. NASA is in contact with the Russian controllers to exchange the maximum amount of information to ensure a 'safe' splashdown. Nonetheless a large insurance policy for $200,000,000 has been negotiated on Mir-just in case!