Mir seen from Earth as it begins burning up

The Russian space station Mir has been seen from earth as it starts burning up on its descent to earth.

Russian news agencies report Mir was spotted from the Japanese island of Honshu.

The reports say Mir appeared as an orange dot as bright as Jupiter in the night sky.

The Japanese foreign minister has already postponed a visit to the US so he will be at work when Mir crashes into the Pacific.

Mir is expected to land on or around March 20 after flying over Japan and Australia.