Space officials had said previously that it would be too dangerous to leave the space station unmanned. Pieces of the Salyut fell on a sparsely populated area in Argentina's Andes mountains near the Chilean border, but caused no injuries or damage. Mikhailichenko said there was no cause for worry. If there is no money to extend the Mir's flight, its orbit will gradually descend from its present 240 miles above Earth to 125 miles early next year, and ground controllers will send it to burn up in the atmosphere in February or March, Mikhailichenko said. Space officials have been reluctant to part with the Mir, the last symbol of Russia's onetime might in space.
All cosmonauts agree that it's a great pity to abandon it.
Without the Mir, officials fear, Russia will be left playing second fiddle in the international space station, dominated by the United States. They want to be the first. At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA spokesman Rob Navias said the U.S. agency was not involved in the Russian decision to abandon the Mir. Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.