Mir Space Station - Design And Construction, Collaboration
designed russian stations spaceborne
The longest continuous presence of man in space began in 1989, with the Russian launch of a 20.4 ton cylinder that formed the core of the space station called Mir. By 1996, a total of six modules had been linked to complete the sprawling station, which has been likened to a spaceborne assembly of tinkertoys. To build Mir, the Russians drew from lessons learned with the Salyut stations of the 1970s and 1980s. The stations were simple and robust, but compact and with limited lifespans. Engineered from the beginning for expansion, Mir was designed for regular resupply, and with nearly self-contained oxygen, power, and water generation capabilities.
Designed for five years in orbit, the station far remained spaceborne until deliberately deorbited in a spectacular reentry on March 23, 2001.
During its operational lifespan the station provided a zero-gravity laboratory for mankind, and saw the dawn of true international cooperation in planning joint space missions. Mir outlasted its creators. Launched by the Soviet Union, it was deorbited by the Russian Federation space program.
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The heart of the station was a 20.4-ton core module, placed in orbit in February 1986. The core module included two axial docking ports, but its most important features were the four radial berthing ports that permitted the attachment of expansion modules, some of which were linked to other modules. With solar arrays generating more than 10 kilowatts (Kw) of power, the core module provided basic l…
In 1994, the United States made an historic $400 million deal with Russia to place six American astronauts on Mir for durations of up to six months. Ostensibly an arrangement designed to prepare American crews for duty on the International Space Station (ISS) by exposing them to long periods in orbit, the deal also had political implications. With the collapse of the Russian economy, the Russian s…
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