Representatives from
Philadelphia-based Analytical Graphics, Inc., (AGI) have been invited to
Moscow later this month to assist in deorbiting the aging Russian space
station Mir.
Now slated to make its final fiery ride to Earth in late March,
the 130-ton space complex is the largest structure ever to be dropped from
orbit.

AGI’s Flight Services team will work with TsNIIMash, a leading institute
associated with the Russian Aeronautics and Space Agency (Rosaviacosmos) to
provide situational awareness of events during the deorbit.
AGI’s software
product, Satellite Tool Kit® (STK), will use spacecraft position and
orientation data, as well as timed events such as thruster firings, to create
detailed and analytically accurate 3-D graphics.
These images will be
projected in the Russian mission control center and will show the space
station as it moves along its flight path toward eventual break-up in the
Earth’s atmosphere.

“This is an unprecedented, historic event, and AGI is proud that our track
record for analytical accuracy during past high-profile orbit-maneuver
missions has won the confidence of TsNIIMash,” says Paul Graziani, president
and CEO of Analytical Graphics, Inc.
“Any experience gained in this deorbit
will help future reentry operations.”
In June 2000, AGI assisted in the
reentry of NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO).
Like Mir, the
observatory was too large to burn up entirely in the atmosphere as it fell to
Earth.
NASA used STK to aid in planning a safe re-entry trajectory.

For a computer animation and digital still images of a predicted Mir
reentry, visit AGI’s Web site at www.stk.com.

AGI provides commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) analysis and visualization
software solutions to more than 25,000 aerospace industry professionals
through its core product, Satellite Tool Kit, and a series of specialized STK
add-on modules.
Its Flight Services division specializes in integrating
real-time telemetry with STK, allowing mission flight operations teams to
easily interpret and analyze incoming data in 2-D and 3-D environments.
Prior
to launch, Flight Services provides a detailed scenario and comprehensive
review of mission operations, integrates STK with telemetry data for real-time
support throughout the life of the system, performs basic STK training to key
mission personnel, configures webcasting network architecture, and creates a
video simulation of mission operations.

AGI has been ranked the 62nd largest desktop software company in the
United States according to Softletter and has been named to many
“fastest-growing” lists such as the Inc. 500, Technology Fast 50, and
Technology Fast 500.
For more about AGI, the STK software suite, or how to
obtain a free copy of STK on CD-ROM, call 800-220-4785 or 610-578-1000, visit
www.stk.com, or e-mail info@stk.com.