Russia's Mir represented a major advance over first-gen space stations.
Courtesy NASA 1986: Mir, the first modern-era space station, is launched by the Soviet Union.
Mir, a Russian word meaning either "peace" or "world," was the name given to the modular craft that was the transition from the earlier American Skylab and Soviet Salyut stations and the current international space station.
What the shuttle became to a maturing U.S. space program, the space station became to the Soviets. The Russians devoted more time than the Americans to studying the effects of long-term stays in the zero gravity of space -- cosmonauts were typically aloft for much longer periods than their astronaut counterparts -- and Mir became the centerpiece of the Soviet (and later Russian Federation) program.
Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov spent 437 days aboard Mir -- from Jan. 8, 1994, to March 22, 1995 -- a space endurance record that still stands.
Like the international space station, Mir was assembled in stages -- seven, if you count the original core module. Several visits were made to get Mir up and running before modules began to be added on a regular schedule until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990.
With the Cold War over, the Russians began welcoming American shuttle crews to Mir as part of the collaborative groundwork for the coming international space station. Seven shuttle missions docked with Mir, with their crews remaining aboard for varying lengths of time.
As part of this collaboration, NASA agreed to pay for the installation of the Spektr and Priroda modules, the last two pieces of the Mir puzzle. A special docking module to accommodate the U.S. shuttles was also added. So in a sense, Mir can claim to be the first "international" space station.
Attempts were made to keep Mir aloft using private money, but all the plans -- including one that would have converted Mir into the first orbiting movie studio -- came to nothing. In the end, burdened by its financial commitments to the international space station, Russia decided to end Mir's life.
The station's orbit was gradually decelerated, and Mir came flaming through the atmosphere on March 23, 2001, to a watery grave in the South Pacific. Mir spent 5,511 days in orbit, a good 15 years.
(Source: Various)
Sputnik's Grandchildren: Satellite Technology 50 Years Later
