DUMA VOTES TO HALT DEORBITING OF 'MIR.' On a vote of 298 for,
three against with one abstention, the Duma passed a
resolution calling on President Putin to halt the
government's decision to let the 'Mir' space station crash
into the Pacific Ocean in March, Russian agencies reported.
The resolution was introduced by deputies Svetlana Savitskaya
(Communist) and Vitalii Sevastyanov (Communist), two former
cosmonauts. But most deputies based their vote on the need to
maintain a platform capable of responding to the U.S.
decision to build NMD, Reuters reported. PG
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