Moscow - Russia decided yesterday to dump the Mir space station in the Pacific next February but warned that some debris from the ageing Soviet-era vehicle might hit land.
The decision signals the end of an era for Russia's cash-strapped space programme, which has been urged by its partners to concentrate its resources on a 16-nation International Space Station project. Mr Yuri Koptev, head of the Russian space agency, said a cargo craft would dock with Mir in late January and use its booster rockets to steer the station back towards Earth.
