Welcome to the archived messages from In The 00s. This archive stretches back to 1998 in some instances, and contains a nearly complete record of all the messages posted to inthe00s.com. You will also find an archive of the messages from inthe70s.com, inthe80s.com, inthe90s.com and amiright.com before they were combined to form the inthe00s.com messageboard.
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Subject: Who remembers Skylab?
I remember my classmates, and friends cracking jokes about this. They would bounce a ball up in the air during gym or recess,and when it was falling down in mid-air, shout out loud,"Look! It's Skylab falling down!" I think the real Skylab finally crashed somewhere in Australia in July of 1979. Who remembers Skylab? Thanks for the memories! Sincerely,Steve.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
I remember Skylab. I was big on space flight and astronomy (still am to an extent) and was a big fan of Skylab and the Viking 1 and 2 landers on Mars. I had every book I could find on both subjects. Also, Pioneer 10 and 11.
I remember the day it fell back to Earth, if it had gone a little bit further it was to pass overhead of where I lived at the time. I remember sitting on the back porch on a bright sunny day listening to the radio station as they provided up dates on it's condition and location. Perverse as it may sound, I was kind of disappointed I didn't get to see it pass overhead! ;D
I recall seeing it pass overhead in the night sky.
I do remember making a model of Skylab out of Lego. It musta been about a foot long.. hardest part was making the solar panels on the telescope mount. :)
In case you're interested, check out:
www.space.com and www.spacenews.com
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
I remember an eerie feeling when the grownups started talking about this huge hunk of junk about to fall out of the sky. No one knew where, and no one could stop it! :o Fortunately, I had a good enough sense of the side of the planet to know Skylab had only the tiniest chance of hitting my town.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
I think the real Skylab finally crashed somewhere in Australia in July of 1979. Who remembers Skylab? End Quote
Certainly did fall "somewhere in Australia". In my state in a little country town called Balladonia in the desert east of Perth out on the Nullabor.
Put the town on the worlds map for a few weeks there.
Before it fell - thousands of us went to the beach to watch it pass over for the last time.
The largest part of it - the massive cone - was "displayed" on the stage a few months later during the Miss Universe Pagent that Donny Osmond hosted here. I went to the pagent (to see Skylab !!).
Just as Miss Venezuela was being crowned - the stage - which had not been built to hold anything other than all the girls - was unable to contend with the extra weight of Skylab and it dramatically collapsed - sending beauty queens crashing several floors below the stage.
Our hospitals were filled with some of the most gorgeous women in the world for a few weeks.
It was all very exciting :) And considering it all occured during our states 150th Year celebrations - we could not have been happier with the publicity.
To my knowledge (tho dont quote cos I havent been for YEARS) most of the various chunks of Skylab are still stored in our museum.
And I still have my scrap book from back then - filled with all the fabulous newspaper cuttings about Skylab and Miss Universe.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
We've been looking for the chunks of Skylab for years, could we please have it back?!
Quoting:
Certainly did fall "somewhere in Australia". To my knowledge (tho dont quote cos I havent been for YEARS) most of the various chunks of Skylab are still stored in our museum.
End Quote
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
;)
Finders keepers !!!!!! All the folk whose yards it landed in got to keep their souvineers and the museum got the rest !!
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Hey BMG, what are you doing up so early (late)? Isn't it like the future now in OZ, like Summer on thursday? we're freezing our bums off here and its 10:35am Wednesday morn!
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
I remember Skylab and the SOYUZ mission also.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
Certainly did fall "somewhere in Australia". In my state in a little country town called Balladonia in the desert east of Perth out on the Nullabor.
Put the town on the worlds map for a few weeks there.
Before it fell - thousands of us went to the beach to watch it pass over for the last time.
The largest part of it - the massive cone - was "displayed" on the stage a few months later during the Miss Universe Pagent that Donny Osmond hosted here. I went to the pagent (to see Skylab !!).
Just as Miss Venezuela was being crowned - the stage - which had not been built to hold anything other than all the girls - was unable to contend with the extra weight of Skylab and it dramatically collapsed - sending beauty queens crashing several floors below the stage.
Our hospitals were filled with some of the most gorgeous women in the world for a few weeks.
It was all very exciting :) And considering it all occured during our states 150th Year celebrations - we could not have been happier with the publicity.
To my knowledge (tho dont quote cos I havent been for YEARS) most of the various chunks of Skylab are still stored in our museum.
And I still have my scrap book from back then - filled with all the fabulous newspaper cuttings about Skylab and Miss Universe.
End Quote
Wow,Brian MannixGirl! You actually saw Skylab,and it was the "real deal" and not a model,or photograph! The "Miss Universe" show must have been a fun event to attend. Sounds like ever since his singing career came to an end,Donny Osmond has been taking whatever work he can find. He now is the host of a game show on tv,called "Pyramid". I did not know Australia had states! :-[ I guess us Yanks are not the only people who live in states! :DCan you post any of your Miss Universe event photos on this site? Thanks for the memories! Sincerely,Steve.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:And I still have my scrap book from back then - filled with all the fabulous newspaper cuttings about Skylab and Miss Universe.
End Quote
At least your town didn't suffer the fate of Lockerbie, Scotland, when Pan-Am 103 came crashing down. Not only did all the passenger die, but several residents of Lockerbie got killed, too.
I remember people talking about the Miss Universe contest when the stage collapsed, but I didn't realize the contest was in Australia, and that they had dragged part of Skylab onto the stage!
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Didnt realise Australia had states ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ?? ??
OK what I am going to say now is going to sound seriously insulting - but its not to you guys cos I luv ya all - its to your education system.
Schools here teach the history of the world - the whole world. Not just about our own country.
So not only do we learn all our own states and capitals etc but we also learn the US states and capitals and all the other countrys and states and capitals around the world.
I would hazard a guess that I can name more US presidents than I can name Australian Prime Ministers.
When I lived in the US fifteen years ago I was seriously surprised at how little most people knew about the rest of the world. 9 out of 10 people I met actually thought I came from a tiny island west of England. They were somewhat surprised when I explained I was from the largest island/continent in the world and if you chop off Florida and Alaska we are actually the same size as the USA.
We have 3 time zones and its a five hour flight cross country.
My state - Western Australia is the largest state and is almost 4 times bigger than Texas. Perth where I live - is the capital.
There is also South Australia - capital is Adelaide, Queensland - capital Brisbane, Victoria - capital Melbourne, Tasmania - capital Hobart, and New South Wales - Capital Sydney. Plus the territories - Northern Territory - capital Darwin, and Australian Capital Territory capital (and Nations capital) - Canberra.
Each state has its own government and a Premier, and own state taxes.
Thank god for the internet - I think it helps people realise we actually exist down here !!!! (that and the fact that our actors are slowly taking over the world - shhhhh its a secret !).
OK enough of the Social Studys lesson. Sorry if I sound frustrated - its not like we are the size of Figi !! We do take up a seriously large portion of the southern hemisphere !!
BJ26 are you east coast ? We are exactly 12 hours ahead of you - so I was posting on Wednesday night. And now its 10.25pm Thursday night. I think we are 15 or 16 hours ahead of west coast - I lose track when daylight saving kicks in there.
Stevie B - yep the real thing. And most kids at some stage that year went to the museum and had their photo taken sitting on the cone. I remember I was sick the day my school went so I missed out. But then no one else in my school got to see it surrounded my Miss Universe contestants !
The pagent itself is seriously dull. It went for nearly a week with all the heats. It was losing money as the crowds were not interested. My dad was given loads of free tiks because he was in the entertainment industry. They wanted full seats. Thats the only reason I went.
Believe it or not I had no idea Donny Osmond hosted it until last year !!!! I grew up without TV so he was just any ole guy on a stage to me. Then I was chatting online with someone last year and they knew Donny and when I said I was from Perth they said "Oh Donny had such a ball there back in the 70's with the Miss Universe Pagent". So mystery was solved !
I could try scanning some of the pics - they are all on 25 year old black and white news print so not sure how clear they will be. I remeber I have a spectacular one of it breaking up in a big streak across the atmostphere. When I unpack my scrapbooks and scanner I will do so (still unpacking after a house move). Feel free to remind me in a month if I forget!!
Maxwell Smart - as I said - it wasnt my town. It was a tiny desert town. It landed in mostly desert and wheat fields. I cant remember what the population was of Balladonia - but it was under 200.
Anyway guys - sorry to hijack the Skylab talk with a geography lesson - it just gets my hackles up when education systems teach with such narrow minded knowledge.
And as soon as I find the scrapbook box and the scanner box (always label your boxes really well when you move !!!!!) I will scan up all the old articles.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
BMG wrote
Quoting:
Schools here teach the history of the world - the whole world. Not just about our own country.
So not only do we learn all our own states and capitals etc but we also learn the US states and capitals and all the other countrys and states and capitals around the world.
I would hazard a guess that I can name more US presidents than I can name Australian Prime Ministers.
End Quote
Hon. John Howard, PM. He's the current PM, for the others I'll have to brush up on my Aussie history.
The American education system doesn't exist in a bubble, it's a product of American social pathology at large. There's a great lack of inquisitiveness in our population.
When I was a kid my parents gave me globes, maps, and atlases as soon as I started asking where things were. I had junior-level encyclopedias as soon as I learned to read. My parents also limited my television watching.
I found most kids in public school came from homes that did not foster inquisitiveness. No maps, no sense of where things are in the world. No educational books, no knowledge of history and world cultures. It's that simple.
For instance, I remember the young men across from me in my college meteorology akding me, "psst, where's Indonesia.?" I thought, "College students should know that, but it is a relatively obscure region if you're from the U.S." But then it was, "psst, where's Spain?," "psst, Ireland?"
Sometimes Americans get all defensive when called on their ignorance.
"Would you like to know where you'd be today without us, the good old U.S. of A., to protect you? THE SMALLEST F**KING PROVINCE IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE! So don't call me stupid, lady, just thank me! If it wasn't for us, you'd all be speaking GERMAN!" --Otto, A Fish Called Wanda
I'm sorry if some Americans resent getting ranked on, but these same Americans have no trouble going abroad and expecting the whole world to be Disneyworld.
It's particularly embarrassing these days because we have a President who REVELS in ignorance, spits on our allies, and thinks he's got a divine mandate because he talks to Jesus.
When the right wing goons started shaking their fists at France, I wanted to personally call every French denizen and say, "I'm an American, and I'm NOT like that." I felt like a passenger in the backseat of a car in which the driver's honking the horn and giving everybody the finger!
That's my say. Now, back to Skylab.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Hi BrianMannixGirl. It does have something to do with the American education system,but I honestly do recall doing a report in my 8th grade Social Studies class on Australia. I remember learning a lot about your country, but I am embarassed to admit that I don't remember much of what I learned through my research. :-[ This was way back in 1980. I think a lot depends on where you travel and/or what kind of people you meet. I have never been to Australia, and I also never met any people from Australia. I think I would know more about Australia, if the above two events took place in my life. My wife is Canadian,and I will be moving to Canada in a couple of months. When I go visit my wife,her and her relatives often ask me questions about the USA,and naturally,I ask them questions about Canada. Everybody is suprised that I know so little about Canada (although I am learning a lot, and will learn more once I move),and I am surprised my in-laws know so little about the USA. And of course,there are so many stereotypes on both sides of the fence. Americans think Canadians are laid back,jolly people who spend their whole existence watching hockey games on tv, and eating donuts. Canadians think that all Americans are violent,alcoholic criminals. That is because the laws concerning gun control, and the purchase of alcoholic beverages, is much more strict in Canada, than it is in the USA. Sometimes stereotypes are not always negative,they can be positive, yet still innacurate. Many Americans think Canada is Paradise with no crime,no pollution,no unemployment,and low taxes. Although the levels of pollution,crime,unemployment,and taxes are lower in Canada than in the USA,there still are socio-economic problems in Canada, just like there are socio-economic problems,in America,and everywhere else.Not all Americans are as rude and obnoxious as "Otto",the Kevin Kline character in "A Fish Called Wanda". There are rude people all over the world. But I guess when John Cleese wrote the script for that movie,he based the character of "Otto" on many rude Americans he met in the past. Sorry for digressing! Thanks again for sharing the Skylab/Miss Universe story! Sincerely,Steve.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Hey StevieB-> If you ever catch a CBC show called "Talking To Americans" you will understand our viewpoint on the "Yanks". It's just a generalization, of course. ;)
Also, I had a friend who works as a customs agent. Some of the stories and questions she gets are very strange indeed. :D Of course, your weather channels always report "cold front coming down from Canada"... no wonder they think we live in igloos. ;D
BrianMannixGirl-> Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but Australia has provinces and territories. I talk once in a while via ham radio to a guy in NSW. It's funny when he mentions the snow and cold and I have my windows open trying to cool my apartment down.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
BrianMannixGirl-> Someone correct me if i'm wrong, but Australia has provinces and territories. I talk once in a while via ham radio to a guy in NSW. It's funny when he mentions the snow and cold and I have my windows open trying to cool my apartment down.
End Quote
No, we have states and territories. :) Six states and two territories.
I used to have a poster of Skylab docking with an Apollo space vehicle on my wall in my bedroom.
And Australia is still smaller than Brazil. ;)
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
Also, I had a friend who works as a customs agent. Some of the stories and questions she gets are very strange indeed. :D Of course, your weather channels always report "cold front coming down from Canada"... no wonder they think we live in igloos. ;D
End Quote
But the cold weather does come howling down from Canada. What one needs to bear in mind more than north and south is continental versus maritime climates. Omaha is much farther south than Vancouver, BC, but Vancouver is much milder in the winter because of the seacoast climate.
Here in western Massachusetts, we're still shielded by the maritime effect from much of the brutal cold you encounter as you go farther int New York state.
A few weeks ago, we had a kind of inversion in which we got the weather of the continental north, and they got ours. I noted that when it was -10 F here in Amherst, MA, it was
32 F in Whitehorse, Yukon!
8)
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Guys I have to thank you for not shooting me down in flames - I was in a foul arguementative mood when I did that last post and probably would have deserved it. So I am glad we are all adults and understand its a big wide world out there full of different people and different knowledge and different opinions :)
Maxwell Smart - I am giving you ten points for correctly naming our prime minister!! Thats nine points more than George Bush gets for calling him John Major (who was the ex UK Prime Minister !!!!).
And you raised some really good points re natural inquisitiveness etc and I love Otto's quotes for any occassion !!!! The college student beside you probably still doesnt know where indonesia is !!!!
Stevie B - you have indeed met Aussies - you meet many of us in this forum each and every day :) And I am jealous you are moving to Canada - which part will you be living in ? I have several Vancouver friends here in Perth and they say the two citys are very similar in way of thinking etc.
I totally agree with you regarding stereotypes etc. Dont forget - for a decade Aussies had to fight the whole "we are nothing like the idiot in Crocodile Dundee" thing. I think he personally dragged us backwards 50 years.
Fortunately many other actors have moved over there and proved we are a race of totally normal human beings. :)
Secret Squirrel - can I feel free to correct you when you are wrong !! Cos you are !! No such thing as a province in all of Australia - even back in 1700's and 1800's when we were busy dividing up the country they were always states and the two territorys. Your ham radio guy was obviously pulling your leg. (or the snow had gotten to him).
Gore - hey man you could sell that poster for a fortune on ebay these days !!! You better dig it out.
Everyone in Canada: feel free to send some of those minus temps down even further south !!! Its flaming hot down here !!
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
BrianMannixGirl...I will be living in Cambridge,Ontario,which is in between London and Toronto. My brother-in-law's fiancee lives in Vancouver. I should be moving in early April. Eight more weeks as a Michiganian,and I am out of here! I just have to wrap up some income tax concerns,and make some final pre-move arrangements regarding my car import. :D Sincerely,Steve.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
One more thing,BrianMannixGirl. Don't be jealous of my move to Canada. An American citizen has to go through a lot of stressful,and expensive,"red tape" to become a Canadian resident. I had to pay over $2,000 in fees,fill out a ton of paperwork,and satisfy many strict requirements. I guess all these strict laws resulted from all those American guys who became "draft-dodgers" during the Vietnam War. They did not want to be sent to Asia,and kill people, or get killed themselves. So they went up north to Canada. Jimmy Carter,the president of the USA,in the late 70's, pardoned them,and gave them the option of coming back to the USA,or becoming Canadian citizens. Many of them decided to stay in Canada. I do love my good lady wife very much,and she is worth what I am going through. And there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will receive free health care. Here in the USA,you have to pay for your health insurance, or have the fees deducted from your paycheck. Plus the private schools in Canada are tuition free. Here in America,they cost a bundle! Did I mention that my wife will get 12 months of paid maternity leave,when we have kids. In the USA,the women only get 4-6 weeks of paid maternity leave,IF you are employed,and IF the company you work for participates in such a program. It is rough for an American citizen to become a Canadian resident,but in the long run,the social benefits are worth it! :D Sincerely,Steve.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
All I remember was I was young and wondering if it was going to crash in my back yard. ;D
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
Maxwell Smart - I am giving you ten points for correctly naming our prime minister!! Thats nine points more than George Bush gets for calling him John Major (who was the ex UK Prime Minister !!!!).End Quote
Bush said THAT? :-[ Good grief! Poor Dubya, he's so confused. Britain is America's closest ally, and he's MET John Major numerous times. In fact, John Major is Chair of the European division of the Carlyle Group. Dubya and Daddy Bush are both members. I knew he got the leaders of many smaller nations wrong. Bush defenders say, "well how many world leaders can YOU name?" How many of us are president of the world's most powerful nation.
To be fair, the name John Howard was on the tip of my tongue, but I wasn't positive, so I looked it up.
Quoting:
And you raised some really good points re natural inquisitiveness etc and I love Otto's quotes for any occassion !!!! The college student beside you probably still doesnt know where indonesia is !!!!
End Quote
I've only seen "A Fish Called Wanda" about twenty times! Again, to be fair, my own grade in that meteorology class wasn't exactly stellar. I knew where everything was, but the math slaughtered me. I have a math disability. Our fabulous educational system gave up on me. In high school, I was in an indvidualized math program. I pretended to do the work, and the teacher pretended to give me a grade. I'm still so bad at math I pull my hair out trying to balance my checkbook!
Quoting:
"we are nothing like the idiot in Crocodile Dundee" thing. I think he personally dragged us backwards 50 years.
Fortunately many other actors have moved over there and proved we are a race of totally normal human beings. :)End Quote
If it weren't for Paul Hogan, where would Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter, be today? Another question, do you ever feel isolated all the way over in Perth? I know it's a major metropolitan area, but it still looks so far from everything.
???
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
The bass player in my band called himself Skylab, after trying out several other stage names first. It was the summer of 1979 and the name stuck. Sometimes we still call him that.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
Bush said THAT? :-[ Good grief! Poor Dubya, he's so confused. Britain is America's closest ally, and he's MET John Major numerous times. In fact, John Major is Chair of the European division of the Carlyle Group. Dubya and Daddy Bush are both members. I knew he got the leaders of many smaller nations wrong. Bush defenders say, "well how many world leaders can YOU name?" How many of us are president of the world's most powerful nation.
To be fair, the name John Howard was on the tip of my tongue, but I wasn't positive, so I looked it up.
I've only seen "A Fish Called Wanda" about twenty times! Again, to be fair, my own grade in that meteorology class wasn't exactly stellar. I knew where everything was, but the math slaughtered me. I have a math disability. Our fabulous educational system gave up on me. In high school, I was in an indvidualized math program. I pretended to do the work, and the teacher pretended to give me a grade. I'm still so bad at math I pull my hair out trying to balance my checkbook!
If it weren't for Paul Hogan, where would Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter, be today? Another question, do you ever feel isolated all the way over in Perth? I know it's a major metropolitan area, but it still looks so far from everything.
???
End Quote
OK - I know how to do quotes - but have never worked out how to do multiple quotes !!!!
So - StevieB - I am still jealous !! I have lived in US and UK but have always wanted to try out the west coast of Canada. Mainly for the cooler weather as I am sick of this 3 month heatwave I am suffering thru but also because every Vancouverite I meet says half of Vancouver lives in Perth and half of Perth lives in Vancouver !!!!!
You should check out our discussion in Playful Penguins re health insurance in various countrys. With Mat Leave it differs from employer to employer here. I know of woman who have taken 6 months off on full pay or 12 months off on half pay. Husbands can take up to 6 weeks paternity leave. But yeah it all depends on where you work here.
Maxwell - Yeah it cracks me up how often Dubya gets peoples names wrong. Maybe he needs to do one of those memory courses !!!! And I totally know how you feel about Maths. Its the one subject I failed miserabley at in school. It just never computes ! I still to this day cannot work out percentages on a caculator without stuffing up !!! Scarily - I am a debt collector - so I deal with running balance accounts and percentages all day !!
Paul Hogan is a comedian turned actor (and not a very good one at that). He has never actually spent time with a croc in his life.
Before Steve Irwin (who has been working with animals for 30 years) came along we had many other "bush" men who had their own TV shows. So to us Steve is just one in a long line of Leyland Brothers, Harry Butlers, Malcolm Douglas's, etc etc.
Perth is a little more that a major metropolitan area !! Its a capital city with a pop of 1,244,320.
Isolation is a relative thing. Does LA feel isolated from New York because it is the same distance as it is from Perth to Sydney ?
My father lives 5000km from me, my mother lives 240km from me, my brother 3500km from me. Do I feel isolated from them ? no - I just pick up the phone and have a chat or find them in Messenger for a netchat. I fly to Sydney and Melbourne 3 or 4 times a year to catch up with friends and family and see a few shows or concerts. Or they fly here. No big deal. Airfares are as cheap as anything these days.
And we are only a 3 hour flight from most holiday destinations in Asia like Singapore, Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Borneo etc etc and it costs less to fly and holiday there than it does to go to the east coast of Aus.
have a look at what my state has to offer a visitor - trust me - many visit and few leave !
http://www.westernaustralia.net/http://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/
(note - both are down right now as there is some serious lightning around - I am actually surprised I still have power in my house !!).
I was actually trying to find the museums website as I thought it might have some skylab piccies. Will keep looking.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Quoting:
No, we have states and territories. :) Six states and two territories.
I used to have a poster of Skylab docking with an Apollo space vehicle on my wall in my bedroom.
And Australia is still smaller than Brazil. ;)
End Quote
..and much cooler than Brazil, too! (and i'm not talking temperature wise) :)
Well, I, Secret Squirrell, stand corrected and thank you for the geography lesson. How embarrassin' :-[
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
Sky Lab that gave me a chuckle, cause at the time Hubby and I lived in an airsream travel trailer with a big ugly TV attena attached to it. We jokingly made a sign that stated
"SKYLAB LANDED HERE!"
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
There was a great electronica group called Skylab. They put out a few singles in 1995/1996, and a full length called #1. Never was a #2, though. :(
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
That was a Space station, I heard of it.
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
I was terrified that Skylab was going to fall on me. I remember lying in my bed staring at the ceiling freaking out (inside) because I knew there was nowhere I could hide to avoid being crushed. :'(
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
check out the skylab exhibition at the Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery Fremantle WA Australia opening April 2nd 2004
Subject: Re: Who remembers Skylab?
I remember Skylab-way cool! There's a Skylab exhibit at The National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. I was nineteen and getting ready to visit my sister in Florida a couple of days before it crashed to earth,I worried it was going to crash in Florida where my sis lived! On another space station note,the Russians are abandoning MIR. How sad,MIR was a piece of history too,but age and equipment failures as well as the dissolution of the USSR have brought MIR(the station's name stands for 'Peace')to an end.