Anglers Worried About Mir
March 22 -- For 21 U.S. fishing boats in the South Pacific, life has gotten exciting — a little too exciting — since last week.
Less than seven days ago, the albacore tuna anglers learned their boats could become floating targets as at least 27 tons of scrap metal from Russia's Mir space station hurtle through the atmosphere toward Earth.
Watch a simulation of Mir's decent.
"I don't know whether we are fortunate to be witnesses of one of man's greatest artificially created astronomical sights," Stan Davis recently wrote in an e-mail from his fishing boat in the South Pacific, "or cursed at ground zero waiting for 1,500 hot molten metal pieces that could easily sink our boats or explode our empty fuel tanks."
Only by 'Mir' Coincidence
At about midnight ET tonight, the engines of Mir's Progress rocket are expected to fire for the final time and send the 15-year-old station into the South Pacific between Australia and Chile. Most of the station is expected to burn up as it re-enters the atmosphere. But about 27 tons of scrap are expected to reach the ocean's surface early Friday morning.
Although Russians have assured that the region where Mir is expected to hit is free of islands and any human habitation, Wayne Heikkila of the Western Fishboat Owners Association, which includes Davis, estimates the splash down zone could lie only about 150 miles from his fleet's cluster of fishing boats. The estimated 34 boats in the region operate out of Oregon, California, Alaska and Washington state. Six others hail from New Zealand and Canada.
"All the news releases we read say this is a 'windswept and desolate area,'" continued Davis from his position in the South Pacific, "so I guess our 34 boats and 200 souls don't count."
Some of the fisherman, who are accustomed to other kinds of perils like storms and rough seas have taken the news with a grain of salt. Barry Diehl, a fishing vessel owner who originally hails from Alaska wrote in: "This is the only time in my life when I've hoped that a little piece of heaven doesn't fall in my lap."
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