International station MIR

• Mir has docked with 31 spacecraft
• Mir has docked with 62 cargo vessels
• Mir docked with the shuttle 9 times
• There has been 17 space expeditions to Mir
• There have been 28 long-term crews on board Mir
• 125 cosmonauts/astronauts from 12 different countries have visited Mir

Earlier events and reports on Mir can be found here .

Milestones and Events

• The Mir 28 Crew landed safely 45 km SE of Arkalyk in Kazakhstan on June 16, 2000 at 00:44 UTC.
• Russia launched a Progress M1-2 freighter on April 25, 2000 at 20:08 UTC to support the 45-72 day Mir 28 Crew mission. The Progress freighter docked to Mir on April 28, at approximately 21:30 UTC. This freighter's primary load is fuel, nitrogen/oxygen supply, and food. Progress M1-1 which had been docked at the rear (+x axis) of Mir undocked on April 26 (16:33 UTC Feb 2), and made a destructive re-entry three hours later.
• April 6, 2000: The Soyuz TM-30 vessel with the Mir 28 Crew manually docked at Mir's forward (-x axis) docking port located on the Mir base Module at 06:32 UTC.
• Russia launched a Progress M1-1 freighter on Feb 1, 2000 at 06:47 UTC to support a 45-72 day Mir 28 Crew mission with a Soyuz TM scheduled for April 4, 2000. The Progress freighter docked to Mir on Feb 3 at approximately 08:00 UTC. This freighter's primary load will be an nitrogen/oxygen supply and fuel. Russia has re-boosted Mir back to a 350 km orbit. Progress M-42 which had been docked on the forward (-x axis) of Mir undocked (03:09 UTC Feb 2), has made a destructive re-entry.
• The Mir 27 Crew of Afannassiyev, Avdeyev and Frenchman Haignere undocked from Mir in their Soyuz TM-29 vessel on August 27, 1999 at 21:17 UT. The landing occurred in Kazakstan near Chapayenka about 60 km from Baikonur around 00:35 UT on Aug 28. The Progress M-42 cargo vessel remains docked at the forward (-x axis) docking port. On Feb 2, 2000 Progress M-42 undocked and made a destructive re-entry.
• One-half of the Mir 26 Crew (Padalka) along with Bella (the 10 day Slovak mission) undocked Soyuz TM-28 on February 27 at 22:52 UT and landed in Kazakhstan on February 28, 1999 at 02:14 UT. Avdeyev remains aboard Mir with the Mir 27 Crew of Afannassiyev and Haignere .
• The Mir 27 Crew successfully docked at Mir on Feb 22, 1999 at approximately 05:51 UT. The Mir 27 crew successfully launched on Soyuz TM-29 (25632/99007A) to Mir on February 20, 1999 at 04:18:01 UT on what will most likely be the final 6 month mission to the Mir complex. This Russian-French-Slovak mission consists of the Russian Afannassiyev, and the French cosmonaut, Haignere remaining aboard Mir, with Bella and Padalka returning to earth in early March.
• The Mir 25 Crew (Musabayev and Budarin-along with Baturan) undocked Soyuz TM-27 at 02:05 UT from Mir and landed on August 25, 1998.
• The Mir 26 Crew (Padalka and Avdeyev-along with Baturan) manually docked with Mir on August 15, 1998 with Soyuz TM-28.
• Astronaut Andrew Thomas, the last US Astronaut to stay aboard Mir, was picked up by Discovery's STS-91 mission on June 4, 1998.
• Mir Crew 24 and Eyhart made a winter landing in Arkalyk, Kazakhstan (50.2 N/67.5 E) at 09:10 UT on Feb 19, 1998. Undocking occurred at 05:52:50 UT, with the de-orbit burn at 08:16:38 UT.
• The Mir 25 Crew consisting of Tolgat Musabayev and Nikolai Budarin, along with French cosmonaut Eyharts (on a 3 week mission) launched on Jan 29 at 16:33 UT on Soyuz TM-27. Docking took place on Jan 31 at 17:54 UT. Eyharts conducted experiments on the Russian-French Pegasus Program (in French) for about three weeks and returned with the Mir 24 crew on Feb 19, 1998.
• Astronaut Andrew Thomas relieved Astronaut David Wolf on the STS-89 mission on Jan 26, 1998.
• Astronaut David Wolf relieved Astronaut Michael Foale on the STS-86 mission in Sept of 1997.
• The Mir 23 crew undocked their Soyuz TM-25 from Mir on Aug 14, 1997, and landed at 12:16 UTC. It was noted in a post-landing news conference that the TM-25 reentry vessel landed hard because the three soft-landing retro rockets didn't fire just before touchdown.
• The Mir 24 crew consisting of Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov launched from Baikour August 5 at 15:35 UTC and docked their Soyuz TM-26 at Mir on Aug 7 at 17:02 UTC.
• Progress M-34 collides into Mir's Spektr module on June 25 at 09:25 UTC.
• Astronaut Michael Foale relieved Astronaut Jerry Linenger on the STS-84 flight in May of 1997.
• The Mir-23 crew consisting of Alexander Lazutkin and Vasily Tsibliyez and the American Jerry Linenger saw the departure of the Mir-22 crew and Germany's Ewald Reinhold on March 2, 1997 with the undocking of the Soyuz TM-24 at 03:25 UTC. The Mir-22 crew of commander Valery Korzun and flight engineer Alexander Kalen had been on Mir since August 1996.
• Fire occurs on Mir on Feb 23, 1997

Mir Configuration

The Mir Complex (satellite catalog number 16609/ International Designation 86017A) was launched on the 19th of February, 1986, replacing the successful Salyut series of space stations run by the Soviets throughout the 1970's and 1980's. Operating in an orbit some 390 km high, inclined at 51.6 degrees (the optimum launch direction from the Baikonur (Tyuratam) Cosmodrome is north of east to avoid flying through Chinese air-space), the space station is modular in design and has been slowly constructed in such a manner.

The crew in TM-1 first occupied Mir on March 14, 1986. With the exception of EVAs/or moving the Soyuz from one docking port to another, Mir has been un-occupied only on four occasions.

The Mir 1 Crew left Mir on May 5, 1986 for Salyut 7.

• Un-occupied from May 5, 1986 to June 26, 1986. The Mir 1 Crew returned again on June 26, 1986 and stayed till July 16, 1986.
• Un-occupied from July 16, 1986 to Feb 7, 1987. The Mir 2 Crew arrived on Feb 7, 1987 and Mir remained occupied by subsequent crews until April 26, 1989.
• Un-occupied from April 26, 1989 to Sept 6, 1989. Mir previously had remained continuously occupied for nine years.
• Mir had been un-occupied from August 27, 1999 to April 6, 2000.

Sources: David S. F. Portree and David Harland

Spaceviews has views and information on the various modules of Mir.

Individual diagrams of the various modules and vehicles can be found at the Mir '97 website.

Mir Core Module

The Mir complex consists of the original core Mir core module (dimensions 15 x 4.15 m, mass about 20000 kg) that was launched in Feb 19, 1986. It provides the basic services of living quarters, life support, power and thermal control.

Kvant

At the rear axial port of Mir (on the +x axis) is docked the Kvant(17845/87030A) astrophysics module (5.8 x 4.15 m, 11000 kg) which was launched on 31st March, 1987. This second module is technically known as Kvant, but is identified in some resources as Kvant 1 so as not to confuse it with the later Kvant 2 module.

The Kvant module houses the Roentgen astrophysics observatory with the Pulsar x-ray telescopes, a gamma ray detector and the Glazar UV telescope. Also mounted on this module is the Sofora mast structure, 14 meters long, with an roll control thruster package at one end. The pitch and yawl attitude of Mir is maintained by gyrodynes.

A rear axial docking port (on the +x axis) of Kvant is used to accommodate the arrival of either a Progress-M or Soyuz-TM vehicle.

The Progress M re-supply vehicle (7.5 x 2 m, 7000 kg) is capable of free-flight for extended periods. When a Soyuz docking takes place it is undocked either for a destructive re-entry or maintained in orbit. When the older docked Soyuz returns to Earth with the relieved crew, the Progress may be re-docked until relieved by another Progress vehicle. The Progress M uses solar arrays to charge its power supply system's batteries. While docked to the Mir, its engine can be used to maintain or alter the space station's orbit.

In the early 1990's the Progress vehicle was equipped with a small return capsule called the Reentry Ballistic Capsule (VBK) (mounted to the forward docking hatch) to return material back to earth. In 1995 the use of this capsule seems to have been discontinued with the periodic docking of the Shuttle with resupplies to Mir. The expendable vehicle is loaded with any materials for disposal. The Progress-M separates to normally make a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific.

The Soyuz-TM vehicle (7.5 x 2 m, 7000 kg) can deliver 2-3 cosmonauts to Mir depending upon what type Soyuz booster is used. It normally takes some 2-3 days to reach the space station and it is capable of remaining docked for up to 200 days prior to returning to Earth.

Forward axial/radial docking (-x)port

On the forward end of the Mir core module (opposite the Kvant module) is the forward axial docking port that delineates the center of the (-x) axis. On this docking port either a Progress or Soyuz vessel is docked. The four radial (side) ports on this forward module capture the four remaining modules on the y and z axis.

Kvant 2

On one of the side ports (+y axis) is docked the Kvant 2 (20335/89093A) module (12 x 4.4 m, 20000 kg) which was launched on the 26 November, 1989. This carries technical support facilities and amenities. It also houses the airlock which the Cosmonauts use to access the outside of the Mir complex in extravehicular activities (EVA). The airlock has also served as "home" to the visiting American astronaut as the Spektr module is no longer habitable.

Spektr

On the opposing side port (-y axis) is the Spektr (23579/95024A) remote sensing module for geophysical sciences (12 x 4.35 m, 19,640 kg). It was launched on May 20, 1995 and arrived at Mir on June 1, 1995. Integral to the Spektr module was a planned robotic arm system that would be able to dispense/retrieve experiments located externally on Mir. The Pelican System is installed with the exception of the robotic master-slave arm.

This module suffered solar array and hull damage on June 25, 1997 when Progress M-34 was being manually maneuvered from Mir to re-dock to the Kvant module. This module is presently depressurized and isolated from the remainder of the Mir complex. Modifications have been made to the Spektr hatch to allow power and control cable penetrations through the hatch, while still isolating Spektr from the remaining station. These modifications have allowed power generation to return to approximately 70% of the pre-collision conditions.

Kristall

On another side port (the -z axis) is the Kristall (20635/90048A) industrial processing module (12 x 4.4 m, 20000 kg). Launched 31 May 1990, this module is used for semiconductor and biological experiments. It also houses Earth observation instruments.

Attached to the end of Kristall is the Mir/Shuttle docking moduledelivered by Atlantis on mission STS-74 on November 14, 1995. Thus, the Shuttle docks to Mir on the -z axis.

Priroda

Finally, the Priroda (23848/96023A) remote sensing module (12 x 4.35 m, 19,700 kg) was launched on April 23, 1996, and resides at the final vacant side port on the +z axis. This module houses passive and active radiometers (IKAR), a synthetic aperture radar (Travers), an infra-red radiometer (Istok 1), a spectrometer for measuring ozone and aerosol concentrations (Ozon-M), visible and infra-red spectrometers (MOZ-Obzor), optical scanners (MSU-SK, MSU-E) and a device for remote interrogation of geophysical stations (Centaur).

Thus, the present and final configuration of the Mir complex (32 m long, 30 m wide, 27 m high) is:

• (on the +x axis): Mir module, the Kvant module and either a Progress or Soyuz vehicle
• (on the -x axis): Either a Progress or Soyuz vehicle
• (on the +y axis): Kvant 2 module with air lock
• (on the -y axis): Spektr module
• (on the +z axis): Prioda module
• (on the -z axis): Kristall module with Mir/Shuttle docking module