This issue will be discussed as part of the main topic of the [cabinet] meeting - the distribution of extra revenues, Oksana Onischenko said.

The government has not yet made a final decision on the fate of the space station, she said. This decision will depend on results of the search for non-budgetary funding for Mir.

Therefore, it is not yet clear what the 750 million rubles would be used for if they are approved - to scrap the station or continue its operation.

However, this amount would be enough to sink Mir in a safe area of the South Pacific Ocean in a managed descent if Russia decides to scrap the station.

The company Mir Corp. and its president Jeffrey Manber are currently looking for non-budgetary financing to continue operating the space station.

Meanwhile, Mir's orbit will soon be raised using the engines of a Progress M-43 cargo ship that docked with the station on Saturday, mission control said.

The station's orbit will be raised by about 15 km, which will allow it to keep fly at least until February 2001, by which time mission control hopes to receive a final verdict on Mir's fate.

Mir is currently orbiting at a maximum and minimum altitude of 348 km and 325 km. This is a fairly risky orbit, as it guarantees safe flight only until December. Stronger solar activity this year has contributed greatly to the drop in altitude, mission control said.

The engines will be fired using fuel left in the cargo ships engine system. The fuel reserves that the Progress delivered to Mir will not be expended because they might be needed to fire reverse thrusters if the station is scrapped and Russia decides to sink it using the resources of only one cargo ship.

This is a very undesirable option because it is not safe. Another option would be to send another tanker ship to Mir with more fuel. This ship would allow maneuverability in a rapid descent and ensure that Mir comes down in a safe part of the Pacific Ocean. A third option would be to send a crew to Mir to take the station out of orbit safely.

In other news a Rosaviakosmos spokesman said mass media reports stating that Jeffrey Manber, president of Mir Corp. (which is engaged in the financing of the Mir space station) has met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov are not true.

Russian Aerospace Agency press secretary Sergei Gorbunov told Interfax that Manber did not meet with Klebanov and did not discuss the fate of the Mir space station with him. In all likelihood, Manber will not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, either, Gorbunov said.

Klebanov Comments
Earlier in the week, Interfax reported that at the end of February, the Russian space station Mir will be taken out of orbit, Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov told Interfax on Monday.

"We are planning to submerse Mir in the ocean at the end of February," Klebanov said, noting that the government will make an official decision on this matter in the near future. This operation is being prepared right now, he added.

The deputy prime minister noted that a Progress cargo ship was recently sent up to Mir to provide the station with the fuel that will make it possible to move the station into the necessary orbit. Another Progress ship will be sent to Mir to deliver more fuel for the operation for de-orbiting the aging station, the deputy prime minister said.

Mir went into orbit on February 20, 1986. Since then 24 international scientific programs have been completed. Scientists from 15 countries have taken part in more than 23,000 experiments and studies. On board the station are 11,500 tonnes of equipment (240 items) from 27 countries.

More than 100 astronauts from various countries have worked on Mir. They include the United States, France, Germany, Austria, Japan, Britain, Bulgaria, Syria and Afghanistan.

Mir has set world record for astronauts in space. The longest aggregate spells were clocked by Valery Polyakov (678 days 16 hours 33 minutes in two missions) and Sergei Avdeyev (747 days 14 hours and 13 minutes in three missions).

No fewer than 78 space walks including three to the depressurized Spektr module lasting a total of 359 hours 12 minutes have been carried out. Mir has been operating in unmanned regime since June this year. Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kaleri, the last cosmonauts to visit Mir on the 28th mission, returned to Earth on June 16.

Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian Aerospace Agency (Rosaviakosmos), said the United States has financed half of the costs associated with Mir since 1996.

Specialists reckon the station could stay aloft for several years to come if the right sort of financing were to be provided.

Copyright 2000 Interfax. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by Interfax and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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