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Mir

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Space transport

   CAPTION: Mir (Space Station)

                        Mission insignia
   Mir Insignia
   Mir insignia
                       Mission statistics
   Mission name            Mir
   Call sign               Mir
   Launch                  February 19, 1986
                           21:28:23 UTC
                           Baikonur, USSR
   Re-entry                March 23, 2001
                           05:50:00 UTC
   Crew                    28 long duration crews
   Occupied                4,594 days
   In orbit                5,511 days
   Number of
   Orbits                  89,067
   Apogee                  393 km /244 mi
   Perigee                 385 km /239 mi
   Period                  89.1 min
   Inclination             51.6 deg
   Distance
   traveled                3,638,470,307 km / 2,260,840,632 mi
   Orbital mass
   w/Spektr, Kristal, etc. 124,340 kg
                         Configuration
                              Mir
                       Mir space station

   Mir (Russian: Мир; lit. world and/or peace) was a Soviet (and later
   Russian) orbital station. It was humanity's first consistently
   inhabited long-term research station in space. Mir currently holds the
   record for longest continuous human presence in space at eight days
   short of 10 years. Through a number of collaborations, it was made
   internationally accessible to cosmonauts and astronauts of many
   different countries. Mir was assembled in orbit by successively
   connecting several modules, each launched separately from February 19,
   1986 to 1996.

   The station existed until March 23, 2001, at which point it was
   deliberately de-orbited, and broke apart during atmospheric re-entry.

   The manufacturer of Mir was the Khrunichev State Space Scientific
   Production Centre.

Development

   Mir Base Block with the five ports in a spherical node at the station’s
   forward end (left)
   Mir Base Block with the five ports in a spherical node at the station’s
   forward end (left)

   Mir was authorized as part of the third generation of Soviet space
   systems in a February 17, 1976 decree to design of an improved model of
   the Salyut DOS-17K space station. Four Salyut space stations had
   already been launched since 1971. Three more would be launched during
   the development of Mir. At the time it was planned that the two
   stations ( DOS-7 and DOS-8) would be equipped with a total of four
   docking ports. Two at either end of the station as with the Salyut
   stations, and an additional two ports on either side of docking sphere
   at the front of the station. By August 1978 this had evolved to the
   final configuration of one aft port and five ports in a spherical
   compartment at the forward end of the station.

   It was originally planned that the ports would connect to 7 tonne
   modules derived from the Soyuz spacecraft. These modules would have
   used a Soyuz propulsion module, as in Soyuz and Progress, and descent
   module and orbital module would have been replaced with a long
   laboratory module.

   The Mir program was consolidated with Vladimir Chelomei's manned Almaz
   military space station program in a February 1979 resolution. The
   docking ports were reinforced to accommodate 20 tonne space station
   modules based on the TKS_spacecraft. NPO Energia was responsible for
   the overall space station, however work was subcontracted to KB Salyut
   due amount of on going work on Energia, Salyut 7, Soyuz-T, and Progress
   spacecraft . KB Salyut begin work in the summer of 1979, and drawings
   were released in 1982- 1983. New systems incorporated into the station
   included the Salyut 5B digital flight control computer and gyrodyne
   flywheels (taken from Almaz), and the new Kurs automatic rendezvous
   system, Altair satellite communications system, Elektron oxygen
   generators, and Vozdukh carbon dioxide scrubbers.
   Zvezda Service Module under construction. Sister to the Mir Core and
   originally to be the core of Mir 2
   Zvezda Service Module under construction. Sister to the Mir Core and
   originally to be the core of Mir 2

   By early 1984 all work on Mir had ground to a halt while all resources
   were being put into the Buran program to get the Buran space shuttle
   ready for a flight testing. Funding was returned in the spring 1984
   when Valentin Glushko was ordered to orbit Mir by the 27th Communist
   Party Congress in the spring of 1986 by the Central Committee's
   Secretary for Space and Defense.

   It was clear that the planned processing flow could not be followed and
   still make the spring 1986 launch date. It was decided on Cosmonautics
   Day (April 12) to ship the flight model to Baikonur and conduct the
   systems testing and integration there. Mir arrived at the launch site
   on May 6, 1985. In October Mir was rolled outside of its cleanroom. The
   first launch attempt on February 16, 1996 was scrubbed when the
   spacecraft communications failed. The second attempt on February 19,
   1986 at 21:28:23 UTC was successful, meeting the political deadline.

History

   Fully constructed space station Mir in 1996
   Fully constructed space station Mir in 1996

   It was mainly serviced by Russian-manned Soyuz spacecraft and Progress
   cargo ships, but it was anticipated that it would also be the
   destination for flights by the later-abandoned Buran space shuttle. The
   orbiting Mir's purpose was to provide a large and habitable scientific
   laboratory in space.

   The United States had planned to build Space Station Freedom as its
   counterpart to Mir, but this project was cancelled after the fall of
   the Soviet Union made an international cooperation possible (see
   International Space Station). Also, the space shuttle Challenger
   exploded less than a month before Mir was launched into orbit (see
   Space Shuttle Challenger disaster). In later years, after the end of
   the Cold War, the Shuttle-Mir program combined Russia's Mir
   capabilities with United States space shuttles and allowed American and
   other western astronauts to visit or stay long-term on the station. The
   visiting US shuttles used a modified docking collar originally designed
   for the Soviet Buran shuttle, mounted on a bracket originally designed
   for use with Space Station Freedom. With the space shuttle docked to
   Mir the temporary enlargements of living and working areas amounted to
   a complex that was the world's largest spacecraft at that time in space
   history, with a combined mass of 250 tons.

   Inside, the 100-ton Mir looked like a cramped labyrinth, crowded with
   hoses, cables and scientific instruments — as well as articles of
   everyday life, such as photos, children's drawings, books and a guitar.
   It commonly housed three crewmembers, but it sometimes supported as
   many as six for up to a month. Except for two short periods, Mir was
   continuously occupied until August 1999.

   Two amateur radio call signs, U1MIR and U2MIR, were assigned to Mir in
   the late 1980s, allowing radio operators on Earth to communicate with
   the cosmonauts.

   A confidence trickster Peter Llewellyn almost got a ride on Mir in 1999
   after promising US$100 million for the privilege.

   In addition to Soviet/Russian cosmonauts, Mir hosted international
   scientists and U.S. astronauts.
   Mir and the Moon, two satellites of the Earth
   Mir and the Moon, two satellites of the Earth

International cooperation

   Mir is seen orbiting about 350 kilometers above New Zealand.
   Mir is seen orbiting about 350 kilometers above New Zealand.

   In September 1993 U.S. Vice-President Al Gore and Russian prime
   minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced plans for a new space station,
   which would later be called the International Space Station, or ISS.
   They also agreed that, in preparation for this new project, the U.S.
   would be involved in the Mir project in the years ahead, under the code
   name Phase One (the ISS being Phase Two). Space shuttles would take
   part in the transportation of supplies and people to and from Mir. U.S.
   astronauts would live on Mir for many months on end, allowing the U.S.
   to share and learn from the unique experience that Russia had with long
   duration space trips.
   The American Space Shuttle Atlantis docked to the Russian Mir Space
   Station
   The American Space Shuttle Atlantis docked to the Russian Mir Space
   Station

   Starting from March 1995, seven U.S. astronauts consecutively spent 28
   months on Mir. During their stay several acute emergencies occurred,
   notably a large fire on February 23, 1997, and a collision with an
   unmanned Progress spacecraft on June 25, 1997. On both occasions
   complete evacuation was avoided by a narrow margin (there was a Soyuz
   escape craft for return to earth). The second disaster left a hole in
   the Spektr module, which was then sealed off from the rest of the
   station. Several space walks were needed to restore full power to Mir
   (one of the "space walks" was inside the Spektr module from which all
   the air had escaped).

   The cooperation between the U.S. and Russia proved far from easy.
   Distrust, lack of coordination, language problems, different views of
   each others' responsibilities and divergent interests caused many
   problems. After the emergencies, the U.S. Congress and NASA considered
   whether the U.S. should abandon the program out of concern for
   astronauts' safety. NASA administrator Daniel S. Goldin decided to
   continue the program. In June 1998, the final U.S. Mir astronaut Andy
   Thomas left the station aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

   The story of Phase One is described in great detail by Bryan Burrough
   in his book Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir (1998).

   The Mir space station was originally planned to be followed by a Mir 2,
   and elements of that project, including the core module (now called ISS
   Zvezda) which was labeled as "Mir-2" for quite some time in the
   factory, are now an integral part of the International Space Station.

Final Days and Deorbit

   Near the end of its life, there were plans for private interests to
   purchase Mir, possibly for use as the first orbital television/ movie
   studio. The privately funded Soyuz TM-30 mission carried two crew
   members, Sergei Zalyotin and Alexandr Kaleri to the station to carry
   out some repair work with the hope of proving that the station could be
   made safe; however this was to be the last manned mission to Mir. While
   Russia was optimistic about the future of Mir, commitments to the
   International Space Station project meant that there was no funding to
   support the aging station. Early proposals by Russia to use Mir as the
   core of the ISS were firmly rejected by NASA, and when the first ISS
   components were launched NASA insisted upon an orbit which effectively
   prevented transfer between the two stations. Many in the space
   community still felt that at least some of Mir was salvageable and that
   considering the extremely high costs of getting material into orbit,
   disposing of Mir was a wasted opportunity.

   Mir's deorbit was conducted in three stages. The first stage was
   waiting atmospheric drag to decay Mir’s orbit an average of 220 km.
   This began with the docking of Progress M1-5, a modified version of the
   Progress M carrying 2.5 times more fuel in place of supplies. The
   second stage of the deorbit was the transfer of the station into a 165
   x 220km orbit. This was achieved with two burns of the Progress M1-5's
   control engines at 00:32 UTC and 02:01 UTC on March 23, 2001. After a
   two orbit pause, the third and final stage of Mir's deorbit began with
   the a burn of Progress M1-5's control engines and main engine at 05:08
   UTC lasting a little over 22 minutes. Reentry into the Earth's
   atmosphere (100km) of the 15-year-old Russian space station occured at
   05:44 UTC near Nadi, Fiji. Major destruction of the station began
   around 05:52 UTC and the unburned fragments fell into the South Pacific
   Ocean around 06:00 UTC.

   In anticipation of the reentry of Mir, the owners of Taco Bell towed a
   large target out into the Pacific Ocean. If the target was hit by a
   falling piece of Mir, every person in the United States would be
   entitled to a free Taco Bell taco. The company bought a sizable
   insurance policy for this "gamble." No piece of the station struck the
   target.

   NASA Animation of the Mir Deorbit

Support craft

   The Mir space station was primarily supported by the Russian Soyuz and
   Progress spacecraft. The Soyuz craft provided manned access to and from
   the station allowing for crew rotations. The Soyuz also fuctioned as a
   life boat for the station, allowing for a relatively quick return to
   earth in the event of an emergency. The unmanned progress cargo
   vehicles on the other hand were only used to resupply the station and
   were incapable of surviving reentry.

   During the Shuttle-Mir Program, Mir was also supported by the Space
   Shuttle. The shuttle provided crew rotation of the US astronauts on
   station as well as carrying cargo to and from the station. The shuttle
   used some of the same systems originally developed for the Russian
   version of the space shuttle, the Buran Shuttle, which was also meant
   to support the station.

   Soyuz (Союз) means "union", so named for the USSR (Sovietskii Soyuz,
   Советский Союз = Soviet Union) and because the spacecraft was a union
   of three smaller modules.

Mir modules

   The Mir space station was constructed by connecting several Mir
   modules, each launched into orbit separately by the Proton rocket,
   except for the Docking Module, which was brought to Mir by the Space
   Shuttle.

      Module Launch Date Launch vehicle Docking Date Mass Soyuz Purpose
                                Configuration
    Core February 19, 1986 Proton 8K82K N/A 20,100 kg N/A Living quarters
     Kvant-1 March 31, 1987 Proton 8K82K ~ April 9, 1987 10,000 kg TM-2
                                  Astronomy
   Kvant-2 November 26, 1989 Proton 8K82K December 6, 1989 19,640 kg TM-8
               Newer, more sophisticated life support systems.
       Kristall May 31, 1990 Proton 8K82K June 10, 1990 19,640 kg TM-9
   Technology, material processing, geophysics and astrophysics laboratory
     Spektr May 20, 1995 Proton 8K82K June 1, 1995 19,640 kg TM-21 House
             experiments for the US-Russian Cooperation program.
     Docking Module November 12, 1995 STS-74 Atlantis November 15, 1995
        6,134 kg TM-22 Used as a docking port for the Space Shuttle.
     Priroda April 23, 1996 Proton 8K82K April 26, 1996 19,000 kg TM-23
                            Remote sensing module

Core Module

   The Mir Core Module provided living quarters and station control. It
   was equipped with six docking ports, and it served as a core of the
   multi-modular space station. It was launched on February 19, 1986 at
   21:28 UTC from Baikonur LC200 with a Proton 8K82K. Its initial orbit
   had a Perigee of 387 km and Apogee of 395 km. The inclination was 51.6
   deg for the duration of the station (and is the same for the
   International Space Station). The initial period was 92.4 min.

   Although the Core Module resembled Salyut 6 and Salyut 7, there were
   also major differences between them. Because most of the additional
   instruments can be placed onboard "add-on" modules, much of the
   scientific equipment found on Salyut space stations was absent. It was
   equipped with six docking ports, and it served as a core of the later
   multi-modular space station.

Kvant-1

   Kvant-1 was originally planned to dock with Salyut 7 , Mir's
   predecessor. The module experienced technical problems during its
   development, however, and it was reassigned for Mir. The module carried
   the first set of six gyroscopes for attitude control. The module also
   carried instruments for X-ray and ultraviolet astrophysical
   observation. Kvant (Квант) means quantum, a name derived from its
   purpose to provide research in astrophysics by measuring
   electromagnetic spectra and x-ray emissions.
   Kvant-1 with its orbital tug attached
   Kvant-1 with its orbital tug attached

   The initial rendezvous of the Kvant-1 module with Mir on 5 April 1987
   was troubled by the failure of the onboard control system. After the
   failure of the second attempt to dock, the onboard cosmonauts conducted
   a spacewalk to fix the problem. They found a trash bag between the
   module and the station, which prevented the docking. The bag was left
   in orbit after the departure of one of the cargo ships. They removed
   the bag and completed docking on 12 Mar.

Kvant-2

   The Kvant-2 module was based on a TKS transport spacecraft. It
   contained scientific instruments and the crew's shower. It also
   contained a second set of gyroscopes that was mounted on the exterior
   of the spacecraft, and a new life support system for recycling water
   and generating oxygen.

   It was divided into three sections. One of them was a large airlock
   featuring a one-metre hatch. It was used for conducting spacewalks and
   thus contained a special backpack. Its size and functions are similar
   to the US Manned Maneuvering Unit.

Kristall

   Kristall was a technology, material processing, geophysics and
   astrophysics laboratory. Kristall (Кристалл) means crystal, and a main
   purpose of this module is to develop biological and
   materials-production technologies in the space environment.

   The main purpose of the Kristall module was to serve as a docking port
   for the Soviet's Buran-class space shuttle. It was to be used in a
   planned Shuttle Ptichka mission in the early 1990s. This never happened
   as the Soviet's space shuttle program was terminated in the 1990s, and
   the module was used later to serve as the docking port of the American
   Space Shuttle instead.

   Other equipments included the Crater-V electrical furnace, the Svetlana
   experiment, and the experiments Buket, Marina and Glazar. The Crater-V
   electrical furnace was designed for the purpose of creating high
   quality gallium arsenide and zinc oxide crystals. The Svetlana
   experiment included a small greenhouse for the cultivation of plants,
   equipped with a source of light and a feeding system. Finally, the
   experiments Buket, Marina and Glazar were designed for ultraviolet
   astronomy observations.

Spektr

   Spektr served as the living and working space for American astronauts.
   The module moved positions on the station on July 17, 1995 to its final
   position by the robotic arm aboard the station.

   Spektr (Спектр) means spectrum, so named for its atmospheric sensors.

Docking Module

   During the STS-71 mission, Atlantis docked directly with the Kristall
   module, using the docking port intended for the Soviet-era Buran
   shuttle. In order to provide sufficient clearance between the shuttle
   and Mir's solar arrays, the Kristall module had to be shifted from its
   usual position to Mir's axial docking port. This left only one docking
   port for use by Soyuz or Progress vehicles, preventing Mir from
   receiving supplies, exchanging crews, or replacing a docked Soyuz.

   The problem was solved by attaching the Mir Docking Module to
   Kristall's docking port, thereby providing enough clearance for a
   shuttle to dock with Mir without moving Kristall or coming too close to
   the station's solar arrays.

Priroda

   Priroda conducted Earth remote sensing. Priroda (Природа) means nature.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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