Oct 17 2000
From The Space Library
Russia launched a Progress supply spacecraft to deliver fuel to the uninhabited Mir space station, which was slipping from orbit. Increased solar flare activity had expanded the atmosphere, creating friction between Mir and the thin gases above Earth and causing the station to descend steadily, ever since its last crew had returned to Earth in June after a 73-day mission. The fuel would enable the station to achieve a higher orbit, preventing it from falling into thicker layers of the atmosphere and burning up. Some Russian politicians had called for disposal of the station, and U.S. space officials had urged the Russian government to dedicate its "scarce space funds" to the ISS. However, MirCorp, a private company based in the Netherlands, had leased time on Mir and agreed to fund the Progress launch, thereby saving the station.
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