Mir debris fished from ocean

And up for auction on eBay

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Music and Media, 23rd March 2001 15:29 GMT

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Salvage hunters have managed to fish some sizeable chunks of wreckage from the Russian space station, Mir, out of the Pacific after it crashed to Earth last night.

Luckily, a quick gander at eBay suggests that quite a lot of the doomed spacecraft survived re-entry and is currently up for auction.

According to Michael Connery, who pulled a charred mangle of stuff from the ocean: "The wreckage is carbon-black, approximately 3 meters long, round in shape with some jagged edges at either end. Inside are some structural supports with some wiring that apparently survived re-entry. It looks extremely burnt and damaged, but who cares! it's an actual piece of MIR!"

Another posting complete with a picture reads: "This appears to be a chunk of steel or metal off the Soyuz-TM supply ship of the MIR Space Station. THis is authentic MIR remains. I was in the South Pacific Sea on a fishing charter last night when the MIR Space Station came down. Bid quickly and carefully... this item will not last!! Buyer pays all shipping costs!"

Another item from the same source claims to have the "clamp off the Priroda wing of the Russian MIR Space Station."

And then there's this lot which has so far received a bid for $2.75 for what is described as "an actual piece of the Mir Space Station".

"It crashed and i fished it out of the ocean," says igor79. "I don't know what it is, but its definatly part of the Mir. I am sure its worth thousands of dollars, but you can by it now for a MIR 15 hundred! HA HA! MIR! By the way, this is all a lie, it is actually duct tape and wire."

Well... it is Friday after all. ®