Last chance to see Mir in Irish skies

The Russian space station Mir will blaze across Irish skies for the last time tonight.

The Russian space station Mir will blaze across Irish skies for the last time tonight.

Man's first outpost in space will burn up in the atmosphere in the weeks ahead.

Mir was originally designed to be manned for only five years but has survived for three times as long.

It was set up to set space endurance records and play host to astronauts who learned how humans could survive in space.

Mir is the biggest man-made object in space at a total of 140 tonnes.

The International Space Station will take over from Mir after next month and will eventually be three times as big as the Russian station when construction is completed.

Mir will be visible tonight as the brightest object in the sky as it flies over after sunset.

Astronomy Ireland have a news line available after midday with exact times of when the station will be visible .

The numbers for the lines are 1550-111-442 for the Republic and 0891-88-1950 for Northern Ireland. Calls will cost about 60p a minute.

If you do miss Mir, the ISS will be visible flying over Ireland next month between February 11 and 22.

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