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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spare A Kopeck?

Russian cosmonauts launched a fund-raiser Wednesday in a desperate effort to save the Mir space station. Vitaly Sevastyanov and German Titov, veterans of the Soviet space program and now members of parliament, called on all Russians to contribute. They said that Libyan and Iraqi businessmen have promised to contribute. Russian government funding is assured only through August, after which the 130-ton station will be slowly lowered and allowed to burn up in the atmosphere, perhaps by mid-2000. Mir costs $250 million a year.