Mir destroyer blasts off

Russia has launched the mission that will destroy the Mir space station. A Progress cargo ship blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan earlier today, and will dock with the 15-year-old orbiting platform, using automated systems, on Saturday. "The rocket blasted off on time at 07:28 Moscow time and everything is going normally," a mission control spokeswoman told a BBC correspondent. "It should be in orbit in nine minutes." If all goes to plan, the cargo ship will lower Mir's altitude, causing it to enter the dense layers of the Earth's atmosphere where most of the station will burn up. Debris is expected to fall into the Pacific Ocean up to 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) off the coast of Australia on 6 March. Should anything go awry with the automated docking on Saturday, an emergency crew will blast off for Mir to direct from orbit further attempts at a link-up.