Mir, space station, part 1

Mir, which means Peace in translation, was Soviet (later Russian) space station in a low orbit operated between 1986 and 2001. The station served as a microgravity research laboratory, where was possible to perform experiments in different fields, such as biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and spacecraft technologies. 
Mir still holds the record for the longest single human spaceflight. Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov spent in space 437 days and 18 hours between the years 1994 and 1995. The station had capacity for crew consisting of 3 for longer term and larger crew for short visits. 

Space station Mir as viewed from Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-89
The first core module was launched in 1986 and it was followed by 6 other modules. Proton rockets were used to launch the modules. The docking module was carried by the US Space Shuttle STS-74 in 1995. Station consisted of 7 pressurized modules and some unpressurized parts. 


Mir space station parts, from May 1996

Mir was part of the Soviet manned space program with different collaborations, such as Interkosmos, Euromir, Shuttle-Mir programs. The first launch occurred on February 16, 1986 and it failed. Second launch succeeded on February 19, 1986 launched by Proton-K. Mir was deorbited in March 2001 due to the cut off in the funding. 

Modules:
Core module launched on February 19, 1986. Module was developed from the Salyut program. It provided the main living and working area, including life support and power. 
The living area provided everything what was important for long duration missions, such as table, cooking area, bicycle, medical monitoring, sleeping bag. The personal hygiene area was located in the end of the working part. The non-pressurized part contained main engine and fuel tank. 

Kvant 1 was launched on March 31, 1987 and was docked to Mir's aft in April 1987. Kvant 1's objective was focused on physics of galaxies, quasars, neutron stars. It was measuring electromagnetic emissions. The module also carried 6 gyrodynes to control attitude. 

Kvant 2 was launched on November 26, 1989 and it was divided into 3 parts: EVA airlock, instrument/cargo compartment, instrument/experiment compartment. Scientific compartment provided biological research, Earth observation, and extravehicular activity capabilities. 

Kristall was launched on May 31, 1990 and it was the last part as Soviet Union. It consisted of 2 sections. The first one was used for materials processing, astronomical observation and biotechnology experiment. The second section was a docking compartment.  

Spektr was launched on May 20, 1995 and it was first of 3 modules launched during Shuttle-Mir program. It served as living area for US astronauts. It served as remote observation of Earth's environment, atmospheric and surface research. It had 4 solar arrays, which generated about half of the station's electrical power. Progress supply spacecraft collided with Spektr module causing depressurization and solar array damage on June 25, 1997. The Mir closed the hatch in order not to loose rest of the Mir.  

Damaged Spektr Solar Arrays
The Russian built Docking module was delivered by the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-74) and launched on November 15, 1995. It was designed to simplify Space Shuttle dockings.  

The final module for Mir was Priroda launched on April 26, 1996. The main purpose of the module was remote observation of the Earth, including weather, ocean/atmosphere, land mineral, and crop conditions, humankind's impact on the environment.  

Power supply was provided mostly by solar panels. The arrays could rotate to get the most effective amount illumination. Electric power can be produced also from batteries or by nuclear and chemical fuel cells. 

The Soyuz-TM spacecraft was used to transfer 3 cosmonauts to and from Mir. It remained docked with Mir for any case of emergency. Sometimes it was used to make flyby around the station to check that everything is correct. The launch from Baikonur to Mir took about 50 hours. The Soyuz docked on the axial port of the core module. 

A Progress, unmanned resupply spacecraft docked at Mir's aft docking part, using Kurs system. Progress supplied station about once in 2 months. 

The time zone used in Mir's space station was Moscow time (UTC+3).In order to simulate night, the windows were covered because the station experience 16 sunrises and sunsets during the day. 


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