Mir to resemble UFO over UK


Russian space station Mir is to become one of the brightest objects in the night sky when it passes over Britain. Experts believe some observers could be fooled into thinking that it is a UFO.
If the weather is clear, the space station should be visible for a few minutes between 5pm and 6pm each night until January 9, as its orbit passes over Britain.
Mir hit the headlines over Christmas when it was feared that the space station could crash back to earth after controllers lost radio contact with the craft.
There were worries that it could cause damage if it landed in densely populated parts of the world.
It was the most recent in a series of set-backs for the ageing Russian space station.
It was hit by a terrifying fire and near disastrous collision with an unmanned cargo ship in 1997 followed by a series of computer glitches and breakdowns.
The craft is currently unmanned, but had cosmonauts on board almost continuously until August 1999, when it was abandoned.
The Mir only had one 73-day manned mission last year and the crew returned safely in June raising official optimism about the prospects of keeping it in orbit without a crew.
When Mir was launched on February 20, 1986, it was the epitome of achievement for the Soviet Union.
However, following the collapse of communism, the project became an increasing financial burden on Russia's economy.
With NASA and other foreign space agencies concentrating on the new International Space Station, the end of Mir seemed inevitable.
The Russian Cabinet approved a plan to crash the Mir into the Pacific 900 to 1,200 miles east of Australia on February 27-28.
The decision followed failed attempts to find private investors to keep the station operative