MIR
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The
Mir Space Station spent fifteen years floating above us (390 Km, at an
inclination of 51.6 degrees). It completed over 86,325 trips around the
Earth. In its fifteen years in orbit, cosmonauts and astronauts from
dozens of nations lived on the station and performed experiments of
historical significance.
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Mir was the culmination of the Russian space program's efforts to maintain long-duration human presence in space. The permanently-manned space station regularly hosted 2 to 3 cosmonauts (on occasion up to 6, for shorter periods of up to a month). Mir was a complex of different modules that have been through many mutations; modules get added and moved around. |
| Living in space, scientists performed scientific and technical experiments, and were able to record real-data on life in space. Mir provided the facilities for wide-reaching research ranging from space life sciences, microgravity, and space technology experiments, to earth observation and sciences, and space sciences. | |
| Activities on Mir have included NASA shuttle missions (STS-60, STS-63, STS-71, STS-74, STS-76, STS-79, STS-81, STS-84, STS-86, STS-89, and STS-91) each of which docked with Mir, all of which form the stepping stones to creating the International Space Station (ISS). Mir's seven year life-span was extended by ISS's need for a home base. Mir's design was the inspiration for this multilateral cooperation. |
Who was the First British Astronaut? Do You Know?
And an Amateur to boot!