Mir Space Station

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.