Mir is a Soviet-Russian manned research orbital station operating in near-Earth space from February 20, 1986 to March 23, 2001 [1] . The base unit was launched into orbit by the Proton launch vehicle [2] . The first multi-module inhabited orbital station [3] . Designed by NPO Energia .
| "World" | |
 Orbital complex “Soyuz TM-26” - “World” - “Progress M-37” on January 29, 1998 . The photo was taken from the MTKK Endeavor during the STS-89 expedition. | |
 Emblem of the station "Mir" | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Spacecraft type | Orbital station |
| Start of operation | February 19, 1986 |
| Day in orbit | 5511 |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 124,340 kg |
| Length | 19 m |
| Width | 31 m |
| Height | 27.5 m |
| Residential volume | 376 m³ |
| Pressure | 1 atm |
| Station Flight Data | |
| Perigee | 354 km |
| Apogee | 374 km |
| Mood | 51.6 ° |
| Orbital speed | ~ 7.7 km / s |
| Circulation period | 89.1 min |
| Total revolutions | 86 331 |
| Distance traveled | ~ 3 638 470 307 km |
| Crew flight data | |
| Inhabited by | March 13, 1986 |
| Inhabited by | June 16, 2000 |
| Habitat days | 4594 |
| Last expedition | Soyuz TM-30 |
| Last ship | Progress M1-5 |
| Station Modules | |
| Base Unit , Quantum-1 , Quantum-2 , Crystal , Spectrum , Docking Module , Nature , | |
| The construction of the station "Mir" | |
 | |
The structure of the station included the following modules: Base Unit , " Quantum-1 ", " Quantum-2 ", " Crystal ", " Spectrum ", Docking module , " Nature ", the basis for the modules were the stations of the Salyut series and the spacecraft " TKS ". The station was inhabited from March 13, 1986 to June 16, 2000 . It was served by ships of the Soyuz and Progress series. Spent 5511 days in orbit of the Earth, of which 4594 days were inhabited, having made 86 331 revolutions around the planet.
During the existence of the station, more than 23,000 experiments were carried out on it, two records were set for the duration of the stay in space by Valery Polyakov and Shannon Lusid . The station was visited by 104 astronauts from 12 countries in 28 expeditions. 29 cosmonauts and 6 astronauts went into outer space. The first experiments on plants were made.
The Mir orbital station was flooded at KKK in the Pacific on March 23, 2001 due to obsolete equipment and a lack of financial resources to maintain it.
The station appears in a number of science-fiction films and cartoons, such as the movie Virus , Armageddon , Iron Sky, and the television animated series South Park .
On May 9, 2001, in honor of the Mir station, the asteroid discovered on August 20, 1990 by Belgian astronomer Eric Walter Elst at the European Southern Observatory was given the name 11881 Mirstation [4] .
Content
History
The project of the station began to be outlined in 1976 , when NPO Energia issued Technical proposals for the creation of improved long-term orbital stations [6] [7] . In August 1978, a preliminary design of the new station was released [8] . In February 1979, work began on the creation of a new generation station, work began on the base unit, on-board and scientific equipment [9] . But by the beginning of 1984, all resources had been thrown into the Buran program, and work on the station was practically frozen [10] . The intervention of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Grigory Romanov , who set the task of completing work on the station [11] by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, helped.
280 organizations worked on Mir under the auspices of 20 ministries and departments [12] . The design of the Salyut series stations became the basis for the creation of the Mir orbital complex and the ISS Russian segment [13] . The base unit was launched into orbit on February 20, 1986 [3] . Then, over the course of 10 years, five more modules and a docking compartment were sequentially docked to it [14] .
Since 1995, foreign crews began to visit the station. Also, 15 visiting expeditions visited the station, of which 14 were international, with the participation of astronauts from Syria , Bulgaria , Afghanistan , France (5 times), Japan , Great Britain , Austria , Germany (2 times), Slovakia , Canada .
As part of the Mir-Shuttle program [15] , seven short-term expeditions [16] were made using the Atlantis ship, one with the Endeavor ship and one with the Discovery ship [17] , during which The station was visited by 44 astronauts [18] .
In the late 1990s , numerous problems began at the station due to the constant failure of various devices and systems. [19] After some time, the Russian government, citing the high cost of further operation, despite the numerous existing projects to save the station, decided to flood the Mir [18] [20] . On March 23, 2001, which operated three times longer than the originally set deadline [18] [21], the station was flooded in a special area in the South Pacific [14] [18] .
In total, 104 [19] astronauts from 12 countries [19] worked at the orbital station (See the List of Manned Flights to the Mir Orbital Station ). Spacewalks were made by 29 cosmonauts and 6 astronauts. During its existence, the Mir orbital station transmitted about 1.7 terabytes of scientific information to Earth. The total mass of cargoes returned to Earth with the experimental results is about 4.7 tons [18] . 125 million square kilometers of the earth’s surface were photographed from the station. At the station, experiments were carried out on higher plants [22] [23] .
Station records:
- Valery Polyakov - continuous stay in space for 437 days 17 hours 59 minutes ( 1994 - 1995 ) [24] [25] .
- Shannon Lusid - a record of the duration of space flight among women - 188 days 4 hours 1 minute ( 1996 ) [26] .
- The number of experiments is more than 23,000 [25] [27] .
Station "Mir" June 12, 1998.
Model of the Mir orbital station at the State Polytechnical Museum .
Station orbit parameters for the entire period of existence
Composition
Base Unit
Main article: Mir base station
The base unit is designed to provide working and resting conditions for the crew (up to six people), control the operation of on-board systems, supply electricity, provide radio communications, transmit telemetry information, television images, receive command information, control orientation, orbit correction, ensure convergence and docking of target modules and transport ships, maintaining the specified atmospheric parameters of the living volume and temperature conditions of the structure and equipment, providing conditions for the exit of cosmones vtov into space, carrying out scientific and applied research and experiments using the delivered target equipment.
Starting weight - 20900 kg. Geometrical characteristics: length along the body - 13.13 m, maximum diameter - 4.35 m, volume of hermetic compartments - 90 m 3 , free volume - 76 m 3 . The design of the station included three sealed compartments (transitional, working and transitional chambers) and an unpressurized aggregate compartment [28] .
Launched on February 20, 1986 [29] at 00:28:23 DMV from launcher No. 39 of the 200th platform of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle [30] .
Target Modules
Quantum
"Quantum" is an experimental (astrophysical) module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed for a wide range of studies, primarily in the field of extra-atmospheric astronomy.
Starting weight - 11050 kg. Geometric characteristics: length along the body - 5.8 m, the maximum diameter of the body - 4.15 m, the volume of the sealed compartment - 40 m 3 . The module design included a sealed laboratory compartment with a transition chamber and an unpressurized compartment of scientific instruments.
Launched as part of a modular experimental transport vehicle on March 31, 1987 at 03:16:16 DMV from launcher No. 39 of the 200th platform of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle [28] .
Quantum 2
"Quantum-2" is a retrofit module for the Mir orbital complex. Designed to equip the orbital complex with equipment and scientific equipment, as well as to ensure that astronauts exit into outer space.
Starting weight - 19565 kg. Geometric characteristics: length along the hull - 12.4 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, volume of airtight compartments - 59 m 3 . The module design included three pressurized compartments: instrument-cargo, instrument-scientific, and special locks.
Launched on November 26, 1989 at 16:01:41 UHF from launcher No. 39 of the 200th platform of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle [28] .
Crystal
“Crystal” is the technological module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed for pilot industrial production of semiconductor materials, purification of biologically active substances in order to obtain new drugs, growing crystals of various proteins and cell hybridization, as well as for conducting astrophysical, geophysical and technological experiments.
Starting weight - 19640 kg. Geometric characteristics: length along the hull — 12.02 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, volume of airtight compartments - 64 m 3 . The module design included two airtight compartments: instrument-cargo and instrument-docking.
Launched on May 31, 1990 at 13:33:20 UHF from launcher No. 39 of the 200th platform of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle [28] .
Spectrum
Spectrum is the optical module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed to study the natural resources of the Earth, the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, its own external atmosphere of the orbital complex, geophysical processes of natural and artificial origin in near-Earth outer space and in the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere, space radiation, biomedical research, studying the behavior of various materials in an open environment of space.
Starting weight - 18807 kg. Geometric characteristics: length along the body - 14.44 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, volume of the hermetic compartment - 62 m 3 . The module design consists of a pressurized instrument-cargo and non-pressurized compartments.
Launched on May 20, 1995 at 06:33:22 UHF from launcher No. 23 of the 81st platform of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle [28] .
"Nature"
“Nature” is a research module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed to study the surface and atmosphere of the Earth, the atmosphere in the immediate vicinity of the "World", the effect of cosmic radiation on the human body and the behavior of various materials in outer space, as well as the production of especially pure medicines in zero gravity.
Starting weight - 19340 kg. Geometric characteristics: length along the body - 11.55 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, volume of the hermetic compartment - 65 m 3 . The module design included one airtight instrument-cargo compartment.
Launched on April 23, 1996 at 14:48:50 UHF from launcher No. 23 of the 81st platform of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Proton-K launch vehicle [28] .
Docking bay
The docking compartment is a module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed to provide the ability to dock MTKK "Space Shuttle".
The mass, together with two delivered solar panels and attachment points to the cargo compartment of MTKK “Space Shuttle” - 4350 kg. Geometric characteristics: the length of the hull is 4.7 m, the maximum length is 5.1 m, the diameter of the pressurized compartment is 2.2 m, the maximum width (at the ends of the horizontal mounting pins in the cargo compartment of the shuttle) is 4.9 m, maximum height (from the end of the keel pin to the container of the additional SB) - 4.5 m, the volume of the pressurized compartment - 14.6 m 3 . The module design included one airtight compartment [28] .
It was delivered into orbit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on November 12, 1995 during the STS-74 mission. The module, along with the Shuttle, docked at the station on November 15.
Soyuz transport ships
Soyuz is a series of manned multi-seat transport ships. Designed for delivery to the orbital complex and the return to Earth of crews and payloads. As part of the Mir orbital complex, Soyuz transport ships of two modifications were used.
Soyuz T is a modification of the Soyuz transport ship. Weight - 6830-7000 kg. Geometric characteristics: length - 6.98 m, maximum diameter - 2.72 m, volume of airtight compartments - 6.5 m 3 . The duration of an autonomous flight is up to 4.2 days. The duration of a flight as part of an orbital complex is up to 120 days. The design of the ship includes two sealed compartments (a household compartment and a descent vehicle) and an unpressurized instrument-and-assembly compartment [31] . In 1986, one manned transport ship Soyuz T flew to the Mir orbital complex [32] .
"Soyuz TM" - a modification of the transport ship "Soyuz T" [31] . Notable for the improvement of a number of on-board systems. The flight duration in the orbital complex has been increased to 180 days. In the period from 1986 to 2000, 30 Soyuz TM transport ships (including one unmanned and 29 manned) flew to the Mir orbital complex [32] .
Progress Transport Ships
"Progress" - a series of automatic transport spacecraft [33] . Designed for delivery of consumables, fuel, payloads, scientific equipment to the orbital complex. As part of the Mir orbital complex, Progress transport ships of three modifications were used.
Progress - developed on the basis of the Soyuz manned transport ship. The total mass is about 7000 kg. Geometric characteristics: length - 7.92 m, maximum diameter - 2.72 m, total mass of delivered goods - up to 2500 kg. The volume of the pressurized compartment is 6.6 m 3 . The duration of an autonomous flight is up to 4 days. The duration of a flight in the orbital complex is up to 90 days. The ship’s design includes one pressurized (cargo) compartment and two non-pressurized compartments (the refueling components compartment and the instrument-aggregate compartment) [31] . In the period from 1986 to 1989, eighteen Progress transport ships flew to the Mir orbital complex [32] .
"Progress M" is a modification of the Progress transport spacecraft. During its creation, the Soyuz TM spacecraft onboard systems were used. The duration of an autonomous flight was increased to 30 days, flight in the orbital complex - up to 180 days. [31] Between 1989 and 2000, forty-three Progress M transport ships flew to the Mir orbital complex [32] .
"Progress M1" - a modification of the transport ship "Progress M", with the aim of increasing the mass of the delivered fuel. In the period from 2000 to 2001, three Progress M1 transport ships flew to the Mir orbital complex [32] .
Rainbow Returnable Ballistic Capsules
"Rainbow" - a series of disposable spacecraft. Designed to return to Earth materials with research results.
The maximum mass is 350 kg, the mass of the returned payload is up to 150 kg. Geometric characteristics: length - 1470 mm, maximum diameter - 780 mm. Landing accuracy along the route is ± 125 km, lateral spread is ± 15 km, parachute descent speed is 8 m / s. Between 1990 and 1994, nine capsules were put into orbit and returned to Earth (one of them was not found after returning), with the help of which more than 500 kg of research materials were delivered from the Mir orbital complex [34] .
Incidents
- On June 25, 1997, while practicing manual docking, the Progress M-34 cargo ship collided with the Spektr module of the Mir station [35] . The collision resulted in depressurization of the module, damage to solar panels, a temporary violation of the power supply of the station, as well as loss of orientation [36] . I had to literally cut off the module from the rest of the complex [37] .
Full-size layout
A full-size model of the Mir station, where cosmonauts trained, is located in the Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City [38] . Another model signed by her last commander, Sergei Zalyotin, is in the amusement park " Europe Park ". Several scientific modules and a landing module are docked to the layout, all of them are open for tourists to access. Also, the layout can be viewed in the service Google Street View.
Flooding
In January 2001, the government of the Russian Federation decided to flood the station [39] . Among the reasons were officially named: running out of a station resource, accidents and accidents at the station, expensive maintenance (approx. $ 200 million per year) [40] .
Numerous station rescue projects have been proposed. For example, during the visit of Iranian President Khatami to Russia, the Iranian delegation expressed interest in buying the Mir station. Iran proposed financing the station for another two or three years, while Russia, for its part, was supposed to train Iranian cosmonauts. Tehran was interested in the military use of the station, since the equipment located at the station carried a double load - civilian and military. In particular, the Mir station could record cruise missile launches and the movement of various aircraft [41] .
It was argued that the end of the Mir program would lead to a reduction of more than 100 thousand jobs by highly qualified scientific and engineering workers. For the domestic political situation, this would lead to an increase in social tension and the elimination of modern high-tech industries: the latter, if properly managed, could in the future become the basis for the growth of the country's welfare. Nevertheless, the Mir orbital station was flooded in the Pacific Ocean on March 23, 2001 due to obsolescence of equipment and a lack of financial resources to maintain it [42] [43] .
In Culture
Cinema
- The station appears in the 1998 Armageddon disaster film: in the story, two shuttles arrive to refuel the station, on board of which there is a single astronaut, Colonel Lev Andropov. However, because of a fuel leak at the station, a fire occurs and the astronauts barely have time to evacuate before the station explodes. The film was subjected to devastating criticism, especially for shooting the explosion at the station, which was generally called frank delirium [44] [45] .
- In one of the key episodes of the film “ Contact ” in 1999, filmed based on the novel of the same name by Karl Sagan , the main character is connected via video link to the Mir station.
- The main character of the television series Dead As Me , Georgia Lass, in a pilot series, was killed by the toilet seat that fell from the Mir space station [46] .
- In the 2012 comedy Iron Sky , Russia launches the modernized Mir station into space to fight the Nazis (its flooding was supposedly a fiction). This causes tantrum among the US president [47] .
- In honor of the station, the Korean animation studio Studio Mir was named [48] .
Music
- The Beat group’s Black Water song was dedicated to flooding: at the beginning of the clip below, a message was displayed in a running line that the station supposedly existed until 2010 and was flooded to prevent a global catastrophe [49] .
- A mention of the flooding of the station is in the song "This means that soon the war" of the group "Counter-revolution" [50] .
Computer Games
- In the computer game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, when playing for the Soviet Union, there is the possibility of choosing superpowers in the form of an orbital strike. At the first level of ability, Sputnik-1 falls from orbit, on the second - one of the modules of the Mir space station, on the third - the space station itself, which looks like Mir.
Painting
- The flooding of the Mir station is dedicated to the murder by Andrei Sokolov .
See also
- Astronautics
- List of astronauts - participants in orbital space flights
- List of US astronauts - participants in orbiting space flights
- List of cosmonauts of the USSR and Russia - participants in space flights
- List of astronauts who visited OS Salute
- List of astronauts and astronauts who visited the Mir OS
- List of astronauts and astronauts visiting the ISS
Notes
- ↑ Mir orbital complex: [electronic resource]: [page dedicated to the Mir orbital complex on the official website of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation named after S. P. Koroleva] / Rocket and Space Corporation "Energy" named after S.P. Koroleva. - URL (accessed date: 04/20/2014).
- ↑ Space Rangers
- ↑ 1 2 15 years ago, the first modular orbital station Mir was flooded in the Pacific Ocean
- ↑ Circulars of minor planets for May 9, 2001 - the document must search for Circular No. 42673 (MPC 42673)
- ↑ Postage stamp of the USSR 1990 with the image of the Mir station
- ↑ Mir station: the orbital house has served well
- ↑ World "World"
- ↑ The Russian space station Mir spent 15 years in orbit and was flooded in the Pacific at 9 a.m. Moscow time on March 23, 2001.
- ↑ 15 years of the completion of the Mir complex
- ↑ "Peace" is impossible to forget, like the first woman "
- ↑ Space Station Mir is the ISS younger brother (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment April 19, 2016. Archived on August 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Who rules the World." Film by S. Komarov
- ↑ The world's first Salyut orbital scientific station
- ↑ 1 2 Life after death: the last megaproject of the USSR
- ↑ Experts: space cooperation is the main achievement after Gagarin’s flight
- ↑ Worldwide technological leadership that has ended
- ↑ Sunset of the Shuttle Era
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Soviet “World”. The history of the station, which survived the collapse of the USSR and ram in space
- ↑ 1 2 3 Orbital Scientific Station "Mir"
- ↑ Who and why drowned our "World"?
- ↑ In the Pacific 15 years ago, the Mir station was flooded
- ↑ Biodiversity in space
- ↑ The agricultural census has every chance to enter orbit
- ↑ Biographies of Soviet and Russian cosmonauts. Polyakov Valery Vladimirovich (Russian) (neopr.) ? . Federal Space Agency of Russia. Date of appeal May 25, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 30 years ago, the Mir space station was launched
- ↑ Shannon Matilda Wells Lucid . Date of appeal May 25, 2015.
- ↑ History of NPC-14. Flight control of the Mir orbital complex and the International Space Station. . Date of appeal May 25, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 “Mir”: [electronic resource]: [page dedicated to the Mir orbital complex on the official website of the Yu. A. Gagarin Scientific Research Testing Center for Cosmonaut Training] // Research Testing Center training cosmonauts named after Yu. A. Gagarin. - URL (accessed date: 04/20/2014).
- ↑ 55 years of astronautics in 55 seconds
- ↑ World Manned Cosmonautics / Ed. Yu. M. Baturin. - M., 2005. - ISBN 5-9900271-2-5
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Transport spacecraft: [electronic resource]: [page dedicated to spacecraft spacecraft on the official website of the Yu. A. Gagarin Scientific Research Testing Center for Cosmonaut Training] // Yu.A. Scientific Research Testing Center for Cosmonaut Training Gagarin. - URL (accessed date: 04/20/2014).
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 V. Lyndin. Orbital station "Mir". Figures and facts. // News of astronautics. - 2001. - No. 5. - URL Archived July 15, 2014 on the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Russian automatic spacecraft Progress MS. Dossier
- ↑ Gudilin V. E. Space-rocket systems (History. Development. Prospects) / V. E. Gudilin, L. I. Slabky. - M., 1996. - URL
- ↑ ACCIDENT IN ORBIT, journal Science and Life (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment December 18, 2010. Archived on May 21, 2012.
- ↑ History of the World: 30 years ago, the first multimodular orbital station was launched
- ↑ The Mir scientific station on this day 30 years ago was launched into space orbit.
- ↑ Cosmonaut Training Center Yu.A. Gagarina. Official Web site . gctc.ru. Date of treatment June 17, 2019.
- ↑ Mir orbital station flooded in the Pacific
- ↑ Koptev: the decision to flood the Mir station 10 years ago was correct (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment February 1, 2014. Archived February 3, 2014.
- ↑ Mir station will fall on March 23
- ↑ Empire Space Chip
- ↑ The end of the “Peace” was scheduled for 01.01 Moscow time
- ↑ "I was forbidden to make contact with UFOs." The first Ukrainian astronaut answered questions from readers. Komsomolskaya Pravda - Ukraine, April 11, 2009 Archived on April 12, 2009. . Interview with L. Kadenyuk
- ↑ Anton Pervushin . "Another sky." “ If ”, No. 10 - 2007
- ↑ George's Death Day on YouTube
- ↑ Iron Sky - Space battle and Brawl on YouTube
- ↑ STUDIO MIR . www.studiomir.co.kr. Date of treatment January 27, 2018.
- ↑ Ground Beat - Black Water on YouTube
- ↑ Counter-revolution - This means that war is coming soon, chords . AmDm.ru. Date of treatment October 11, 2016.
Links
- Site containing diagrams of the development of the station, detailed descriptions of each block (English)
- Accident at the launch of Mir station
- Orbital station "Mir" on the Russian astronomical portal
- Timeline of spacecraft launches to the Mir orbital station
- Orbital complex "Mir" on the site of RSC Energia
- Kommersant - World Mir