[FPSPACE] The big dive

[Raoul Lannoy]

Hello!
There's an interesting article in french from Jean Etienne (at Geoman) I
found worth translating for you:
According to J Loftus (JSC director), Mir is still in good enough shape to
be controled. NORAD will help Russia for the last moments.
A Progress M1 will dock to Mir, end of january. Progress-243 will also
remain docked to Mir. During several days, synchronized engine ignitions
(from both Progresses) will slowly lower Mir's orbit up to a critical point,
an orbit with a 170 km  perigee.
When Mir flies over Africa, Progress M1 will ignite its engines one last
time, for 800 seconds. When, a few minutes later, Mir passes over Russia,
during its apogee, controlers will fine-tune its orbit. Then Mir will get
towards its perigee, flying successively over Australia, New-Zealand and the
Marquise islands and aim towards the Pacific ocean. Contact with the
atmosphere should occur above a totally inhabited area 200km wide, 6,000 km
long.
Raoul Lannoy
Nerviersstraat 19
2018   Antwerpen, Belgium
Tel: 32.3.288.55.67  GSM:0486.89.24.61
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