Progress M1-5
Progress M1-5 was the Progress spacecraft which was launched by Russia in 2001 to deorbit the fifteen-year-old Mir space station in a controlled fashion over a remote ocean area, far away from shipping lanes - otherwise Mir's orbit would have decayed uncontrolled over time (like e.g. Skylab), with debris potentially landing in a populated area. The Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviakosmos, was responsible for the mission.
A Progress-M1 spacecraft | |
| Mission type | Mir deorbit |
|---|---|
| Operator | Rosaviakosmos |
| COSPAR ID | 2001-003A |
| SATCAT no. | 26688 |
| Mission duration | 2 months |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Progress-M1 254 |
| Manufacturer | RKK Energia |
| Launch mass | 7,082 kg (15,613 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 24 January 2001, 04:28:42 UTC |
| Rocket | Soyuz-U |
| Launch site | Baikonur Site 1/5 |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Deorbited |
| Decay date | 23 March 2001, 05:59:24 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
| Perigee altitude | 256 kilometres (159 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 282 kilometres (175 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| Period | 89.89 minutes |
| Epoch | 26 January 2001 |
| Docking with Mir | |
| Docking port | Kvant-1 aft |
| Docking date | 27 January 2001, 05:33:31 UTC |
| Time docked | 2 months |
| Cargo | |
| Fuel | 2,678 kilograms (5,904 lb) |
Launched in January 2001 after a short delay due to a problem with Mir, on 27 January Progress M1-5 became the last spacecraft to dock with the station. It spent two months attached to the Kvant-1 module before deorbiting the station on 23 March 2001. Mir re-entered the atmosphere with Progress M1-5 still docked, disintegrating over the Pacific Ocean, with debris falling into the ocean at around 06:00 GMT. During the early stages of the uncrewed Progress M1-5 mission, a crewed Soyuz was placed on standby to launch in order to complete the mission if a problem occurred. The decision to deorbit Mir attracted both praise and criticism for Rosaviakosmos, while several campaigns to save the station were conducted.