One hour's Mir warning for Australia

Australian officials have been told they will get just one hour's warning if the Mir splashdown goes wrong.

Russian mission controllers are expected to bring the craft down on Friday around 1,200 miles east of Queensland.

Most of the 135-tonne space station will burn up but around 1,500 pieces could hit the Earth.

However Richard Templeton, spokesman for Emergency Management Australia, said he has been reassured by Moscow.

He said: "This is a controlled event. We're dealing with a very significant management-controlled situation here compared with something just falling out of the sky."

Nevertheless five international flights across the Pacific are being delayed until after the event as a precaution.