MirCorp dumps Mir station

Chairboy writes "According to this press release, MirCorp (the company that was leasing space station Mir for commercial opportunities) is ending their involvement with Mir and concentrating on building a commercial lab module for the International Space Station. Looks like NASA's wish to get rid of legit competition in the station business has been answered.... This is unfortunate, Station Mir is a fully functional space station with more capabilities then the International Space Station at the moment. Because it's already there, lots of operations could have been done less expensively on Mir then the politically expedient ISS."

Comments

Almost Right...

[AstroJetson]

Yes, it's spiralling down, but it's not really a question of geography. Mir is in a *really* low orbit. Atmospheric drag is causing it to decay even further, in fact it was boosted up to a higher orbit earlier this year or else it would have probably come down by now. But even so, it won't last in the current orbit very long: the lower it gets, the higher the drag and the lower it gets, lather, rinse, repeat until the big burn. At this point they still have some control over it so I think they plan to try to de-orbit it someplace (relatively) safe, such as over the Pacific (pity that).

Also, Mir is very heavy (ok, massive to be more exact), having acreted many pieces over its lifetime. To boost it into a higher orbit that would last any significant length of time would take a lot of energy (i.e., money) that would be better spent on ISS.

Re:First Space Station

[Chairboy]

Actually, one of Mir's predecessors was first, Salyut 1.

Re:How About the Old Viking Sendoff?

[Chairboy]

That would be nice, but US export restrictions prevented the export of the electrodynamic tether (METS) that was bound for Mir. The tether could have increased Mir's orbit to a point where it wouldn't decay, but with the use of a tether, the fuel requirements are prohibitive.

Yes, what a shame

[commandant]

It's absolutely terrible that the Mir would go unfunded. It almost burned down when we had Americans up there, it's becoming overrun by fungus, we hear American reports of a horrible musty smell throughout the station.

It's so far beyond its expected service life, it isn't even funny. While once a testament to human ingenuity and engineering skills, it is now an example of pointless human nostalgia which is being carried out at dangerous levels. Certainly it is historic equipment. But the place for admiration is not where its inhabitants will die if they make a minor mistake, it is in a museum.

Of course, if put on display, it should be decontaminated and aired out.

As an American citizen, my opinion of the Russion space station means absolutely nothing. However, I do not think that Americans should be pushing to hold missions on that station. I do not want American lives put in danger, and as far as I'm concerned, the Mir is ready to come hurtling down.

Thank you.

I do not belong in the spam.redirect.de domain.

Mir + SSA = ?

[Xunker]

I don't know where I heard it from (maybe here?) but a while back there was some talk about integrating Mir with Space Station Alpha (formerly the International Space Station). This seemed to me like a Good Idea(tm) -- Mir is fully functional if decaying. If they conjoined the two they could eliminate a lot of Mir's weak points (poor computer system, terrible propultion) and it would help the SSA. It could provide suplimentary power, communications, storage and serve as an emergency escape vehicle should something happen to the SSA.

It's old, but valuable. YWe've got to remember that the Mir is one of only two working space stations currently in orbit, and the Mir has proved itself time and again.

Re:Mir + SSA = ?

[tesserae]

Even if desirable, it would be prohibitively expensive. The stations are in different orbital planes, and it's expensive (in terms of fuel) to change orbital planes. They're also at different altitudes, but that's much less of a problem.

For what it would take to change planes and do a rendezvous with Alpha, the Russians could reboost Mir to prevent its reentry many, many times over. And they're unwilling to do that even once more.

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Re:How About the Old Viking Sendoff?

[Royster]

I wonder if the MIR station can be reinforced to take small amounts of directed thrust? Could it's orbit be changed enough to break away from Earth?

Helm, reroute the Emergency power and life support to thrusters. We need to get the space station out of this planet's gravity well.

But, sir, there are hundereds of genetically mutated fungi onboard. We'd be spreading disease throughout the whole quadrant.

Doctor, what can you tell me about the lifeforms aboard that craft?

Dammit, I'm a doctor, Captain, not a mushroom farmer.

Och, Captain, she's breaking up. She canna take much more of this.

Screw it. Let it burn up on reentry.

How About the Old Viking Sendoff?

[human bean]

I wonder if the MIR station can be reinforced to take small amounts of directed thrust? Could it's orbit be changed enough to break away from Earth?

Strap some thrusters on it, some simple reinforcement, redirect most electrical to thrust, and send the sucker off. Skip life support. Guidance not strictly required. Maybe we fill it with cultural memorabilia first, just so the folks that find it will know what we taste like.

OTOH, maybe we could load the puppy up with biologics, frozen bacteria and algae ice cubes, and set Mir's course for the slow orbit to Mars, or Venus, or somewhere that life might stand a chance. Sure, it may take US another hundred years to get there, but it might be nice to have some kind of biosphere waiting.

Maybe we should load it with radioactive waste and drop it in a crater on the Moon.

I know, I know, I just hate to see waste...