Mir FAQs - Safety issues Why won't MIR burn up completely on re-
entry? MIR is mainly composed of aluminium and lightweight
materials that will burn up due to the strong aerodynamic
stresses (friction will generate temperatures in excess of
1500ºC) caused by the high re-entry speed (28 000 km/h). However
MIR contains robust elements such as steel and titanium to
support manned occupation and the repeated docking process.
These elements are the pieces most likely to survive re-entry
heating. Mathematical models show that of the 135 tonnes in
orbit mass, up to 30-40 tonnes (some 20-30% of the total mass)
could survive re-entry heating and break into many smaller
pieces. These pieces will slow down and fall to the Earth’s
surface, in a well-defined remote area of the Pacific Ocean
(some 1500-2000 km southeast of Australia) over an area 3-4000
km long and about 200 km wide. Do we know where it will come
down? The Russian controllers of the MIR station have targeted
the Pacific area 1500-2000 km southeast of Austra