Scuttled Space Mirror Reflects Russia’s Woes

A plan to illuminate Russia’s sun-starved northern cities with a huge mirror in space has been postponed indefinitely due to lack of funds, space officials said Friday.

The 100-foot space mirror, called Znamya 2.5, was designed to work like the moon by reflecting sunlight onto parts of northern Russia, lighting them during long nights.

The Znamya, or Banner, would have been launched in November.

“We are struggling to raise funds to send regular supplies to the station, let alone the Znamya,” said Sergei Gorbunov, a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency.

The mirror was to be attached to a cargo ship that would release it after the ship docked with the Mir space station.

“There is no place for that mirror aboard the cargo ships because we can only ferry the most vital supplies to the station,” Gorbunov said.

In February 1993, Russia ran a similar experiment called Znamya 2, but the mirror was barely visible on Earth, said Vera Medvedkova, a spokeswoman for the Mission Control.

The new Znamya, which was to be followed by larger mirrors, would have resembled a shooting star, not a large object such as the moon, Gorbunov said.

Space officials had planned to keep the 12-year-old Mir in orbit through the end of 1999, but the last crew is now expected to depart next June.