After the vessel was abandoned, it was hit by 40-miles-per-hour winds and 18-foot waves, which caused it to fill with water and sink.

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Earlier attempts to refloat the vessel had to be abandoned due to high winds and lower than expected tides.

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Even Vladimir Lobachev, Mir's mission-control chief, admitted that the vessel might eventually have to be abandoned.

ECONOMIST: Mir today, gone tomorrow?