Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

'' (russian: Мир, ; lit. ''Peace'' or ''World'') was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and later

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n space station, operational in

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

from 1986 to 2001. With a mass greater than that of any previous space station, ''Mir'' was constructed from 1986 to 1996 with a modular design, the first to be assembled in this way. The station was the largest artificial

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

orbiting the Earth until its

deorbit Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...

on 21 March 2001, a record now surpassed by the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

(ISS). ''Mir'' served as a

microgravity The term micro-g environment (also μg, often referred to by the term microgravity) is more or less synonymous with the terms ''weightlessness'' and ''zero-g'', but emphasising that g-forces are never exactly zero—just very small (on the I ...

research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

in which crews conducted

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into Causality, cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome oc ...

s in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

human biology Human biology is an interdisciplinary area of academic study that examines humans through the influences and interplay of many diverse fields such as genetics, evolution, physiology, anatomy, epidemiology, anthropology, human ecology, ecology, hum ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

meteorology Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...

and spacecraft systems in order to develop technologies required for the permanent occupation of

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...

. Following the success of the

Salyut program The ''Salyut'' programme (russian: Салют, , meaning "salute" or "fireworks") was the first space station programme, undertaken by the Soviet Union. It involved a series of four crewed scientific research space stations and two crewed m ...

me, ''Mir'' represented the next stage in the Soviet Union's space station programme. The first module of the station, known as the core module or base block, was launched in 1986, and was followed by six further modules ( ''Kvant''-1 (1987), ''Kvant''-2 (1989), ''

Kristall The Kristall (russian: Кристалл, , Crystal) (77KST, TsM-T, 11F77T) module was the fourth module and the third major addition to ''Mir''. As with previous modules, its configuration was based on the 77K (TKS) module, and was originally na ...

'' (1990), ''

Spektr Spektr (russian: Спектр; en, Spectrum) (TKM-O, 77KSO, 11F77O) was the fifth module of the Mir Space Station. The module was designed for remote observation of Earth's environment containing atmospheric and surface research equipment. Sp ...

'' (1995), the

docking module A docking compartment is a module of a space station to which visiting spacecraft can dock. Docking Compartment may refer to: * Docking Compartment 1 (Pirs) * Docking Compartment 2 (Poisk) See also * Mini-Research Modules * Mir Docking Module ...

(1995) and ''

Priroda The Priroda (russian: Природа; en, Nature) (TsM-I, 77KSI, 11F77I) module was the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station. Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing and to develop and ...

'' (1996)), all launched by

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

rockets (with the exception of the docking module). When complete, the station consisted of seven pressurised modules and several unpressurised components. Power was provided by several

solar array A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and ...

s mounted directly on the modules. The station was maintained at an orbit between and altitude and travelled at an average speed of 27,700 km/h (17,200 mph), completing 15.7 Earth orbits per day. Spacewalks (

Extra-vehicular activities Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmen ...

, or EVAs) in support of the operation of the station were major events in the assembly and maintenance of the orbital laboratory. EVAs were performed to install new components onto the station, to repair and replace various experiments, systems and equipment, and to install, monitor and retrieve scientific experiments. The first EVA carried out at ''Mir'' was held on 11 April 1987, when EO-2 crewmembers

Yury Romanenko Yuri Viktorovich Romanenko (russian: Ю́рий Ви́кторович Романе́нко; born 1 August 1944) is a former Soviet cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (March 16, 1978 and September 26, 1980). Over his career, Yuri Romanenk ...

and

Aleksandr Laveykin Aleksandr Ivanovich Laveykin (russian: Александр Иванович Лавейкин; born April 21, 1951) is a retired Soviet cosmonaut. Biography Born in Moscow, Laveykin was selected as a cosmonaut on December 1, 1978. He flew on one ...

assisted in the docking of the ''Kvant''-1 module. The longest EVA was performed on 17 July 1990, when EO-6 crewmembers Anatoly Solovyev and Aleksandr Balandin left the station to repair their spacecraft,

Soyuz TM-9 Soyuz TM-9 was the ninth expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir.The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-TM9.htm Crew Mission highlights During docking, cosmonauts aboard Mir noticed that thre ...

, then encountered difficulties shutting the airlock hatch upon their return. The total time for that spacewalk was seven hours and sixteen minutes, close to the absolute limit of their Orlan-DMA

spacesuit A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, ...

s. In total, eighty EVAs were conducted around ''Mir'' from 1987 to 2000. Sixty-three EVAs were conducted from ''Kvant''-2's

airlock An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric compo ...

, fifteen from the core module's docking node (of which three were so-called 'intravehicular activities', or IVAs, within ''Spektr'') and two from the airlock of the . denotes EVAs performed from the core module's docking node.
denotes EVAs performed from the airlock of the .
All other EVAs were performed from the airlock in ''Kvant''-2.
EVAs conducted during different principal expeditions (EO, russian: экспедиция основная, lit. mission primary) are separated by a wide blue line. Space Shuttle missions (

STS STS, or sts, may refer to: Medicine * Secondary traumatic stress, a condition which leads to a diminished ability to empathize * Sequence-tagged site, a gene-reference in genomics * Soft-tissue sarcoma * Staurosporine, an antibiotic * STS (gen ...

) are not separated from the expedition during which they took place.

References

See also