New mission planned for Mir as current one wraps up
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Mir
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June 12, 2000
Web posted at: 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT)
By Richard Stenger
CNN Interactive Staff Writer
(CNN) -- Russia and a private corporation plan to send two cosmonauts on yet another mission to the aging Mir space station later this year, according to Russian news reports. Meanwhile, two crewmen aboard the orbiter are expected to return to Earth at the end of the week.
Russians Pavel Vinogradov and Salizhan Sharipov are
tentatively scheduled to arrive at Mir on November 30, the
Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. The pair trained as the
backup crew for two cosmonauts now stationed on the Russian
outpost.
A final decision on the launch date has not been set, said
the president of MirCorp, a group of international investors
seeking to keep the station in orbit for commercial ventures.
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Cosmonauts Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri are expected
to return to Earth on Friday at 4:40 a.m. Moscow time (8:40 p.m. EDT Thursday), following a
two-month stay during which they prepared Mir for an extended
hibernation.
On the first privately funded manned mission to space, the
two replaced batteries, sealed a lingering air leak and
conducted scientific experiments, according to MirCorp.
Russian space officials have said they were considering
spinning the accident-prone station out of orbit and into the
ocean in August if no new money was made available.
But MirCorp president Jeff Manber remained confident that his
company would raise enough private funds to keep Mir in orbit
into 2001.
"We'll have future launches. We're in a round of financing
now and it looks pretty good," he said Monday. The company is
seeking funding from investors, sponsors and space tourists,
who for roughly $20 million can take a trip to Mir for up to
10 days, according to MirCorp.
Manber said he expects two to three manned missions in 2001,
some of which could include "citizen explorers." Currently
the company is negotiating with three candidates.
"It's not the price. It's the months they have to spend
preparing that's holding them back," he said.
Mir was initially designed to stay in orbit for five years
but has outlived its life span nearly three times. Russia has
refused to retire the last vestige of its ambitious
Soviet-era space program despite chronic cash shortages.
U.S. officials fear Russia will siphon resources
meant for the $60 billion International Space Station (ISS) to keep
Mir aloft.
Russian space officials insist that the Mir program is funded
by MirCorp investors and has no impact on the ISS, which is
running far behind schedule in part because of Russian delays.
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RELATED SITES:
Where is Mir?
Office of Space Flight - Mir
MirCorp
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