So, anyone else hoping CNN is going to try and scoop the other networks with live footage of Mir's re-entry?

There were protests last week at NASA (of all places), saying Mir should stay up there, and that it's still doing good. At the same time, the leader of Russia's lower house of parliment made a bid, regarded by other party leaders as 'fantasy' that the Russians should launch 'Mir 2' by using their reserve module they built for the international space station ("Alpha"), and funding it by charging the United States for the labor used to help build Alpha, including, ironically enough, the labor used to build the reserve module.

Meanwhile, back at Russian mission control, Vsevolod Latyshev, a spokesperson for the center, was asked if Russia had any plan to recover some or all of the 30 tons of debris expected to survive re-entry tonight. "What for?" he asked quizzically. Apparently they never thought of the idea that several citizens of nations with more disposable income would be willing to fork over tidy sums for small doodads fashioned from the ex-Soviet ex-Space Station.

Me, I'm just grateful for the entertainment. Stanford and Duke may both lose at basketball tonight, but there's no way on god's green earth (or should I say, in orbit around it), that Mir isn't coming down tonight. Be it in the middle of the South Pacific or the coast of Chile, fireballs will ensue, and catharsis will be achieved. Don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against the Soviet legacy, I just like a good light show.

And I want to buy a nice pair of Mirrings for my mom's birthday.