Mir Space Station
Presented By: David Garnetti
Brief History of Mir
The first space shuttle docked with Mir in
1986
 Completed construction of space station in
1996
 Continuously occupied until August 1999
 Fell out of orbit in March 2001

The Purpose

Mir translates into “peace” “world”
“village”
– Literally Mir refers to the Russian peasant own
land granted by the Edict of Emancipation of
1861
To perform zero gravity experiments
 To make observations of earth, space, and
biological effects of prolonged space flight
 Peaceful world collaboration

Mir’s Modules







Core: Living quarters and station control
Kvant I: Observed physics of space
Kvant II: Crew showers, earth and biological
experiments
Kristall: Semiconductor and biological
experiments
Spektr: Living and work area for American
Astronauts
Priroda: Earth remote sensing
Docking Module: Safe stable port for space
shuttles
Mir’s Layout

The station resembled four school buses
connected to each other at 90 degree
angles with a two more sections
perpendicular to the other four
Mir Core Module
Launched Feb. 1986
 13.1 meters long; 20.4 tons, 90 cubic
meters habitable volume
 Contained primary living and working
area, life support and power, as well as
the main computer, communications and
control equipment
 one docking port for space craft and four
radial berthing ports, set at 90 degree

Kvant I
Launched 1987; 4 by 13 meters, 11.5
tons, 40 meters pressurized volume
 Attached to the Core Module
 Provided research in the physics of
galaxies, quasars, and neutron stars

– measured electromagnetic spectra and x-ray
emissions.

Also supported biotechnology experiments
Kvant II
Launched 1989; 4.3 by 13.7 meters; 19.6
tons; 61.3 cubic meters; and 27.4 meter
solar array
 Enhanced drinking water and oxygen
provisions, motion control systems, power
distribution, and contained washing
facilities
 Provided biological research and earth
observations

Kristall Module
Launched 1990; 4.3 by 11.9 meters; 19.5
tons; 60.8 cubic meters; 36 meter solar
array
 Developed biological and materials
production technologies in the space
environment.

– semi-conductors, cellular substances and
medicines.

Supported astrophysical and technical
experiments
Spektr Module
Launched 1995; 4.4 by 12 meters; 19.5
tons; 62 cubic meters; 4 solar arrays
 American living quarters of Mir
 Contained 1600 lbs of U.S. equipment
 Mainly used for earth observation of
natural resources and the atmosphere.
 Also supported biotechnology, life
sciences, materials science and space
technologies research

Priroda Module
Last Module; Launched 1996; 4.3 by 13
meters; 19 tons; 66 cubic meters
 Mainly used for earth remote sensing

– weather; ocean-atmosphere systems; land,
mineral and crop conditions; mankind's
impacts and opportunities in the environment.

Also collected info from buoys in nuclear
power, seismically dangerous, and other
zones,
– to create an integrated monitoring and
warning system
Docking Module
Allowed for a space shuttle to dock safely
with the station
 Attached to the end of the Kristall section

Soyuz
Length 7 meters; 7100 kg; 10 cubic
meters
 Manned spacecraft that can ferry up to
three crewmembers to and from Mir.
 Can be used as an escape pod for the
crew

Progress Supply Vehicle
8 by 2.7 meters; 6.6 cubic meters; can
carry up 2500 kg of supplies
 Unmanned, automated version of the
Soyuz
 Designed to supply the space station

Finished Space Station
Was the largest spacecraft with total
weight of 250 tons
 The size of six school buses
 Avg. Speed: 17,885 mph
 Orbited approx: 250 mi. above the earth
 Housed over 100 cosmonauts, astronauts,
and international crew members
 Over 75 space walks; 325+ hours

Achievements of the Mir
16,500 experiments
 600 new technologies
 Stayed in orbit for 15 years

– 3 times its planned lifetime

16 orbits everyday
– Approx: 87,600 total orbits
Achievements of the Mir
First crop of wheat to be grown from seed
to seed in outer space
 Provided data on the biological effects of
long term space flight

– Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov spent 438
consecutive days in space

MEEP: Mir Environmental Effects Payload
Flaws and Accidents
Never was able to maintain a adequate
system for the stowage of refuse
 Towards the end of operations Mir would
experience power outages and
environmental fluctuations “regularly”
 June 1997 a Progress shuttle collided with
the Spektr module

– Spektr became decompressurized and had to
be sealed
The Deorbit of Mir
With a failing Russian economy and
construction of the International Space
Station, Russia decided to deorbit Mir
 Mir fell into the South Pacific near New
Zealand on March 23, 2001

After Mir

Currently the International Space Station
is manned and orbiting the earth
Sources
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttlemir/spacecraft/s-mir.htm
 http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/
 http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html

Questions?