The Mir Space
Station was the first permanent space station in space. It was officially built
to conduct studies and experiments of interest to science and the Soviet/Russian
economy.
Note: this page is being re-written in the next few
weeks. I have left here so you know its still here.
When the Mir program began,
the station's lifetime was estimated to be five years. At present, Mir has 2
crew and is still in orbit, and additional missions to the outpost being
planned. Mir has been in orbit more than 14 years after the first component was
launched.
Currently the Russian Aviation and Space Agency is examining Mir to see if it
may be salvaged as a private industry research post and tourist retreat for
wealthy vacationers. The proposal to resurrect the space station was made in
January 2000 by Walt Anderson, a Washington-based venture capitalist, who is
said to plan to invest $21 million into attempts to renovate the station.
Crew members have been ferried to Mir using the Soyuz-TM spacecraft and the
NASA space shuttle. Space Station Mir has been visited by over 100 cosmonauts
and astronauts during its more than 13 years in orbit. In all, 43 space
travelers have called Mir "home," and 59 others have visited for periods of time
less than one month. Sixteen space travelers stayed on Mir for multiple long
duration missions. The Mir Core, the base unit of the station, was launched on
Feb. 20, 1986. It has a mass of 20,100 kilograms, a length of 13.13 meters and a
maximum diameter of 4.15 meters. Its pressurized volume equals 90 cubic meters.
The solar panels have a total area of 76 square meters. Five modules are
attached to the core.
The Progress resupply craft ferried supplies to the crews from 1986 to 1989.
After that time, an improved Progress-M resupply craft was used. Both types of
resupply spacecraft were launched using Soyuz rocket launch vehicles. They each
had a total mass of 7,450 kilograms, a maximum diameter of 2.7 meters and a
length of 7.2 meters.
First Privately Funded Manned Space Mission to Mir
A Soyuz rocket blasted off at launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan, Tuesday, April 4, 2000. Two Russian cosmonauts are visiting Mir
space station on the first-ever piloted space mission funded by private
investment.
The crew are: Commander Sergei Zalyotin and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri.
Progress M1-1 supply ship has already docked with Mir and resupplied the station
with fuel and water.
The mission is funded by Netherlands-based MirCorp, which hopes to turn a
profit operating the 14-year-old orbiting outpost. The company is in discussions
with several corporations about possible advertising deals and scientists
interested in flying experiments. MirCorp plans to keep the two cosmonauts on
board for at least 45 days to investigate the station and assess any need for
repairs. If more funds are not forthcoming, the crew would again put Mir on
autopilot and be the last crew to live on Mir.
The space station has been empty since it was placed on autopilot seven
months ago. Russia seems determined to pursue an independent space program. It
has decided to go ahead with a new mission after getting $20 million from
international investors. Mir, plagued by accidents in recent years, was to have
been scrapped this year. The plan was to send it plunging toward Earth so that
it burned up in the atmosphere.
Company officials also said they are in active talks with a potential space
tourist who would pay a travel fare of roughly $15 million.
Current Status of Mir Space Station:
The Russian
Space Agency has
announced that Space Station Mir is to be destroyed in a controlled descent on
March 8th, 2001. If you want to keep up to date, then join the
mailing list
and notified of the Event.
Mir was
replaced by the
International Space Station.
Reference:
http://cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/04/04/russia.mir.01/
http://www.mirstation.com/
http://www.maximov.com/Mir/homepage.asp
Image extracted from:
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/science/weekly/mir.jpg
More Mir
information
Mir's
Visitors(ie. U.S Shuttle):
Building Mir Space Station:
Launching
Mir Space Station:
Mir
Space Station Ideas:
Controveries:
Mir Space
Station Links:
Mir Labs:
Space Station Mir :
Energia:
Mirwatch:
Keep Mir Alive!:
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