Russian experts have drafted a plan to destroy the Mir space station in February 2001 by lowering its orbit so that it largely burns up in Earth's atmosphere, a senior space official said Sunday.
Viktor Blagov, deputy head of the Russian space flight control center, told ITAR-TASS that the scheme was now awaiting government approval.
"The preliminary scenario for destroying Mir which can be accomplished in February 2001 has been prepared," Blagov said.
The official explained that four possible options for scrapping the Soviet-era space project had been examined.
Under one scheme, the 14-year-old Mir would be broken up into several sections and brought down one by one to the earth's atmosphere.
But this had been rejected as unsafe because "the more parts you have, the more debris" would come hurtling down to earth, said Blagov.
Another scenario, which he described as "fantastic," would have seen Russia fire a missile at Mir to destroy it in a fiery mid-space explosion, but this it was deemed would also create too much debris.
The fourth option, ruled out on cost grounds, would have been to leave it in orbit, Blagov said.
The plan that has been chosen envisages two Progress cargo space ships lowering the Mir orbit to 80 kilometers (50 miles), causing the space station to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere where most of it will burn up.
The remains of the station will then fall in a fixed area of the Pacific Ocean.
"Everything will go according to the laws of physics: the station will burn and break apart," Blagov said, adding that the entire operation would take several days.
Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov indicated earlier this month that Moscow could not afford Mir's 250 million dollar (294 million euro) annual upkeep and so would destroy it.
Klebanov said the Russian government would make a definitive decision on Mir during October.
The once-prestigious space station has been uninhabited since two Russian cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kalery returned to Earth in June after a mission lasting more than two months, the first to be funded by private capital.
A Russian supply ship docked with the Mir space station Saturday carrying food and materials for the next crew which is to board the station early next year -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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