ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELYRIDICULOUSGIFTS.COM OFFERS MIR COLLISION 'INSURANCE,' CARTOONS AND MORE

A new Web destination geared toward followers of the Russian space station
Mir's decent to Earth - after 15 years in orbit - is offering commemorative
'insurance' policies, 24-hour newsfeeds, history and humorous Vladmir "exposed" Putin images.

Absolutelypositivelyridiculousgifts.com is live today and open for business.
Prefaced with a flash animation of two cosmonauts pulling the space station
onto screen to the "Song of the Volga Boatmen," the site offers visitors
limited edition parchment 'insurance' policies that protect against personal
injury from Mir's uncontrolled decent in denominations of 25M Rubles, 100M
Rubles and 500B Rubles (approximately US $18B).

The online portal also features souvenir T-shirts and coffee mugs with
Russian or English messages stating, "I Survived the Crash of the Space
Station Mir." Information on how to get other
Absolutelypositivelyridiculousgifts - such as US $10,000 window seats on a
jet that guarantees a bonfire scene as the 136-ton spacecraft hits the
Earth - is also featured at this Web destination.

-- Related news --
The Russian Military News Agency is reporting that ballistic experts
have calculated Mir's descent and made recommendations for the Flight Control
Center's ballistic support service.

The chances of Mir's uncontrolled fall upon a particular region are as
follows, RMNA reports:

Latin America - 8.6%
Africa - 8.2%
Asia - 6.9%
US - 1.7%
Australia - 1.5%
Europe - 0.5 %

Despite fears of falling debris, some say the real threat is mutant fungi.
Yuri Karash, a Russian space program expert, said Monday there is a
possibility that micro-organisms, which have spent 15 years
mutating aboard Mir, could threaten Earth.

"I wouldn't overstate it ... but a realistic problem exists," Karash said.

-- Mir's history --
The first module of Mir launched into orbit Feb. 20, 1986. Less than one
month later the first crew moved in. Mir's designers predicted it would last three
to five years. Mir has spun around Earth more than 85 times in its 15 years of
existence.

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