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The Mir Space Station
Mir Russian space station designed to provide long-term accommodations for crewmembers while in orbit around the earth. Mir was launched into orbit on February 19, 1986. Crewmembers reach Mir aboard Soyuz spacecraft and, more recently, through the American space program aboard a space shuttle. Mir, the first space station designed for expansion, was originally only a single core module, but it now consists of seven modules. Mir replaced the Salyut series of space stations as the centrepiece of the Soviet (now Russian) manned space program. The Salyut series of space stations were smaller, simpler stations that helped develop much of the technology needed to build Mir. Astronauts and cosmonauts from Afghanistan, Austria, Britain, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Japan, Kazakstan, Syria, and the United States have worked aboard Mir beside their Russian colleagues. More people have visited Mir than all previous space stations (U.S. Skylab and Soviet Salyut series) combined. |
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