|                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Mir Emergency Escape Profile

The Soyuz-TM spacecraft typically ferried three crewmembers to and           from Mir from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It remained docked with Mir to           be available as an escape vehicle in case of emergency, and was sometimes           used to make "fly-around" inspections of the station. 

Mir           Emergency Escape Profile - MPEG (8.7 M) (No Audio)

Progress Collision with Mir

On June 25, 1997, the Progress resupply vehicle, under manual control,           collided with the Mir solar array on the Spektr module. Then, the spacecraft           hit Spektr itself, punched a hole in a solar panel, buckled a radiator,           and breached the integrity of Spektrs hull. 

Progress           Collision with Mir - MPEG (13 M) (No Audio)

Mir Uncontrolled Spin

The collision of the Progress resupply vehicle on June 25, 1997 knocked           Mir into a spin and the resulting power outage shut down the gyrodynes           so that the spin went uncontrolled. To stop the spin and face the arrays           toward the Sun, the crew needed to know the spin rate of Mir. However,           the computer and other instruments were out of operation. So, in the           dark and in the silence, Foale went to the windows in the airlock and           held his thumb up to the field of stars. Combining a sailors technique           with a scientists knowledge of physics, Foale estimated the spin rate           of the space station. Then, he and Lazutkin radioed the estimates down           to the Moscow Control Center. The ground controllers fired Mirs engines,           and that stopped the spincertainly not perfectly, and in no way permanently;           but it showed that it could be done.

Mir           Uncontolled Spin (8 M) (No Audio)

Read           more about Mike Foale and the               collision in his Oral HistoryRead           more about the NASA-5 increment

STS-86 Fly-around Inspection

On October 3, 1997, the *Atlantis*, carrying Mike Foale and the           STS-86 crewmembers, undocked from the Mir space station and performed           a 46-minute flyaround visual inspection of Mir. During this maneuver,           Anatoly Solovyev and Pavel Vinogradov opened a pressure regulation valve           to allow air into the Spektr module to determine if STS-86 crewmembers           could detect seepage or debris particles that could indicate the location           of the breach in the damaged module's hull. 

STS-86           Fly-around Inspection - MPEG (16.5 M) (No Audio)

Mir Deorbit

The journey of the 15-year-old Russian space station ended           March 23, 2001, as Mir re-entered the Earth's atmosphere near Nadi,           Fiji, and fell into the South Pacific. Its downfall - planned and controlled           - began around 8 a.m. Moscow time. Engines of a cargo ship docked to           Mir were fired causing the station's orbit to brake, starting the Mir's           descent. The computer generated images below illustrate the breakup           of the 143-ton station as it descended to Earth. 

Mir           Deorbit animation (11.8 M) (No Audio)

See           the CNN footage of the Mir Deorbit -               MPEG (5.3 M) (No Audio)

Read           more about Mir's deorbit

*The computer generated animation segments were provided           by Analytical Graphics, Inc.*            |  |
| | TOC | Site         Map |         Photo Gallery | Video Gallery | Diagrams         | Welcome | Search         |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |