crash of the space station Mir - obstacle course with a green pass
Moscow (March 2001). Only in unusual situations, several hundred journalists from all over the world jostle together in a single room, to report on an event that takes place thousands of miles away. And only in truly historic night is not even from the great hall of the Russian space flight control center in Korolev, to catch the rush of visitors.
middle of the night was to be destroyed by the Space Control Center ZUP from the pride of Russian science. More than 86,000 times the space station Mir in 1986 was circling around the earth, should now three braking pulses from the vicinity of Moscow the 15 Year-old technological wonder, to bring out of its orbit. The remains of the station should sink into the Pazifk, somewhere at the other end of the world, near the Fiji Islands. About six hours were scheduled for the fall maneuvers.
fear of Russian space debris
Ever since a dramatic series of glitches late nineties I was an international media star. More trade, the situation was so explosive that emergency evacuation of the cosmonauts was likely. Only the courageous intervention of the crew allowed the continued existence of the Russian manned space flight. Tabloids around the globe sealed before the crash Horror stories about the supposed threat from uncontrolled Russian space debris. The Mir was during her last days in Germany in the Kitchen. Gisbert and I hope to achieve de spectacle about a dying space station new attendance records on the Internet pages of our newspaper.
At the entrance to ZUP there was first a nasty surprise: The space agency had divided the press people because of the massive interest in two classes. The major Russian broadcaster, CNN, ARD, Reuters, and also the correspondent of the largest international newspapers, got blue passes handed out. So they could go directly into the room from which sunk in the ocean from the Mir should be. were in the wrong seats
Flugleitsaal
apparently for representatives of lesser-known media, green passes. The "green" journalists should move into the visitors' balcony of a second, identical room. From there, the new International Space Station was controlled. With the dramatic fall of the events I had to do in this room but not in the least. After all, promised those responsible, even in the ISS control room would the press informed of the progress of events.
Some correspondents with green cards attached to their fate. Probably they had decided that there is nothing accounted for when instead of 15,000 miles were now 15,000 kilometers away 50 meters from the Fiji Islands. Our agency Rufo had been allocated for the ISS room. Gisbert, however, had other plans. He discussed a long time with the press of the space agency, the security guards at the entrance to the control room, cursing and finally decided to come at any price in the right room.
There were places on the visitor balconies filled quickly: TV crews from around the world, deserving cosmonauts who had once spent weeks or even months on the Russian outpost in space, Arab military attaches with epaulets on their uniforms. They all stared at the giant world map on the wall, which had shown for years the endless elliptical orbit Mir. Still flashed the spaceship on the map, but it was the end of his journey ever closer.
middle of the crowd appeared occasionally on Yuri Koptev, the gigantic head of the Russian Space Agency. He said the press corps in monosyllables, or not at all. The guest of honor was Sigmund Jaehn come into the ZUP. The ZDF was the first German space plane has been taken exclusively under contract. Jaehn said now for the German TV viewers watched the event from the control center. From the right room, of course.
discovered in the crowd at the passport control Gisbert finally some neighbors - the television team from RTL. The two colleagues had blue accreditation cards, they were together and happy to help. So that our problem was solved: the two RTL-people went into the right space, a built up the technology, the second came back with the blue pass the other in his pocket and discharged one of us right in the room. During the evening, the colleague with the RTL-accreditation, the half-German correspondent corps helped by the entrance.
all expected a long night in a windowless room with an increasingly stifling air. Alone - there was not much to report. The sinking of a space station in the Pacific proved to be an extremely lengthy Maneuver. The Flugleitsaal the Mir was filled during the night but more and more. We obviously were not the only ones who had invented the same trick. burns
morning that I had been without incident, their remains exactly in the calculated grid square fell into the sea, I looked on the way out again in the hall for the journalists with green passes. Where there was emptiness go - up to a dozen reporters who were asleep in their chairs, had all of them are smuggled in the other room.
On the subject see also: The final way of me by Gisbert Mrozek.
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