ParallelGraphics Web3D Project Tracks MIR’s Final Journey Back to Earth

ParallelGraphics
(www.parallelgraphics.com), a pioneering world leader in the field of
3D Internet technologies, will be following the final days of the
Russian MIR space station, one of the most famous space projects ever,
as it ends 15 years of circling the earth on March 20th.

The “End of MIR” is the only 3D project on the Web that will show

the position and path of the famous space station in real-time. It
will allow a worldwide audience track and observe this historic moment
in space travel. From March 15, the world will be able to follow MIR’s
final journey at www.parallelgraphics.com/mir

Using the latest scientific data from NASA, ParallelGraphics has
developed the End of MIR project which will allow a worldwide audience
visualize and track in real-time 3D the final days and hours of this
extraordinary spacecraft as it reaches the end of its working life.

With final nudging from the rockets of an attached cargo ship, MIR
will dive into the atmosphere as it heads for an isolated target spot
in an area 1,850 miles east of the southern tip of New Zealand in the
South Pacific.

The MIR re-entry event will be the single largest celestial event
on Earth since the Tunguska meteorite struck Siberia in 1908. And it
is likely to be the single largest celestial event on earth until the
International Space Station is de-orbited in 2020 or 2030. The MIR
Space Station weighs 140 metric tons and 40 tons are expected to
survive re-entry and impact the ocean at near sonic speed.

“The re-entry of MIR is one of the most spectacular events any of
us will get to see in our lifetime. This is as close to mission
control as one can get. Through the use of ParallelGraphics Web3D
technologies, viewers will now be able to experience this monumental
event using our Cortona viewer,” said Connell Gallagher, President of
ParallelGraphics.

The 100 tons of man made materials that will burn up in the
earth’s atmosphere will provide a quite extraordinary, once in a
lifetime, celestial display. MIR will be coming down from an orbit
where it has been traveling at about 18,000 miles an hour. Two thirds
of it will burn up and disintegrate as it passes through the earth’s
atmosphere. About a third of the Station will survive re-entry and
impact in a remote area of the South Pacific Ocean. The final path of
MIR is expected to cut a swathe through the atmosphere that will be
thousands of miles long and hundred of miles wide.

About PG

ParallelGraphics is a leading developer of integrated rich media
3D technologies for the Web and wireless device markets. We offer
complete turnkey 3D services and a comprehensive range of interactive
3D solutions and products to a wide range of multinational clients and
end users. ParallelGraphics’ head office is located in Dublin,
Ireland, with a design and sales team based in London, and an
extensive R&D center in Moscow. ParallelGraphics’ technologies have
been widely used in the areas of entertainment, education and
e-commerce amongst others.