Tourists, reporters and former Russian cosmonauts were on board. Several burning chunks of the space station fell into the Pacific Ocean around 1 a.m. ET today, within the designated stretch of desolate ocean between New Zealand and Chile. Mir made contact with the Earth's surface about 1,800 miles east of Wellington, New Zealand, the Russian space agency said. Organizers of the re-entry expedition were in contact with Russian space officials to get information on the space station's trajectory so they could watch from the air. Expedition organizers said they would stay least 200 miles from the descending space station at all times.
Herring says the trip was worth it.
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