Space Station | The Station | Russian Space History russian space history Prelude to Space Stations (1903-1964) Soviet engineers began work on large rockets in the 1930s. In May 1955, work began on the Baikonur launch site in central Asia. In August-1957, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile lifted off from Baikonur on a test flight, followed by the launch of Sputnik I, the world's first artificial satellite, on October 4, 1957. On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin lifted off from Baikonur in the Vostok I capsule, becoming the first human in space. A year later, Soviet engineers described a space station comprised of modules launched separately and brought together in orbit. A quarter-century later, in 1987, this concept became reality when the Kvant module was added to the Mir core station. - back to the top - First-Generation Stations (1964-1977) First-generation space stations had one docking port and could not be resupplied or refueled.

The stations were launched unmanned and later occupied by crews. There were two types: Almaz military stations and Salyut civilian stations. To confuse Western observers the Soviets called both kinds Salyut. The Almaz military station program was the first approved. When proposed in 1964, it had three parts: the Almaz military surveillance space station, Transport Logistics Spacecraft for delivering soldier-cosmonauts and cargo, and Proton rockets for launching both. All of these spacecraft were built, but none was used as originally planned. Soviet engineers completed several Almaz station hulls by 1970. The Soviet leadership ordered Almaz hulls transferred to a crash program to launch a civilian space station. Work on the Transport Logistics Spacecraft was deferred, and the Soyuz spacecraft originally built for the Soviet manned Moon program was reapplied to ferry crews to space stations. Salyut 1, the first space station in history, reached orbit unmanned atop a Proton rocket on April 19, 1971. The early first-generation stations were plagued by failures.

The crew of Soyuz 10, the first spacecraft sent to Salyut 1, was unable to enter the station because of a docking mechanism problem. The Soyuz 11 crew lived aboard Salyut I for three weeks, but died during return to the Earth because the air escaped from their Soyuz spacecraft. Then, three first-generation stations failed to reach orbit or broke up in orbit before crews could reach them. The second failed station was Salyut 2, the first Almaz military station to fly. The Soviets recovered rapidly from these failures. Salyut 3, Salyut 4, and Salyut 5 supported a total of five crews. In addition to military surveillance and scientific and industrial experiments, the cosmonauts performed engineering tests to help develop the second-generation space stations. - back to the top - Second Generation Stations (1977-1985) With the second-generation stations, the Soviet space station program evolved from short-duration to long-duration stays. Like the first-generation stations, they were launched unmanned and their crews arrived later in Soyuz spacecraft. Second-generation stations had two docking ports. This permitted refueling and resupply by automated Progress freighters derived from Soyuz.

Progress docked automatically at the aft port, and was then opened and unloaded by cosmonauts on the station. Transfer of fuel to the station took place automatically under supervision from the ground. A second docking port also meant long-duration resident crews could receive visitors. Visiting crews often included cosmonaut-researchers from Soviet bloc countries or countries sympathetic to the Soviet Union. Vladimir Remck of Czechoslovakia, the first space traveler not from the U.S. or the Soviet Union, visted Salyut 6 in 1978. Visiting crews relieved the monotony of a long stay in space. They often traded their Soyuz spacecraft for the one already docked at the station because Soyuz only had a limited lifteime in orbit. Lifetime was gradually extended from 60-90 days for the Soyuz Ferry to more than 180 days for the Soyuz-TM. Third-Generation Station: Mir (1986-present) Mir was the first permanent space station. The station has been in orbit for 13 years, and staffed continuously for the past 9 years.

The complex weighs more than 100 tons and consists of the Mir core, Kvant, Kvant 2, Kristall, Spektr, Priroda and Docking modules. Mir measures more than 107 feet long with docked Progress-M and Soyuz-TM spacecraft, and is about 90 feet wide across its modules. Russia's early space stations (1969-1985) SUPPORT THIS SITE! Acknowledgement: The editor would like to thank Michael Lutomski and his staff at Johnson Space Center, Houston, for corrections. The first landing of Apollo astronauts on the lunar surface in July 1969, marked a watershed for both US and Soviet space programs. In the US, with Soviets "beaten" in the race to the Moon, the Apollo program suddenly became a "dead end colossus" in the eyes of appropriation committees. After six successful lunar expeditions, the Apollo program was terminated in 1972. Back in the USSR, political inertia continued dragging forward the ill-fated lunar program , however, leaders of the space industry as well as their patrons in the Kremlin had already started looking elsewhere for future goals.

Within TsKBEM, the primary developer of the Soviet manned spacecraft, a group of top engineers "conspired" to initiate a project of the space station, which could be accomplished quickly and economically. The new program would employ the hardware, which had already been developed by a rival design organization led by Vladimir Chelomei. Since mid-1960s, Chelomei's collective worked on a military orbital complex designated Almaz ("Diamond"). However, technical problems and political intrigue stalled the project. By December 1969, Dimity Ustinov, aka Uncle Mitya, a powerful Kremlin bureaucrat supervising the rocket industry, signed off on the project. The head of TsKBEM Vasiliy Mishin, despite his opposition to the idea, had no choice but squeeze another assignment in the already ambitious list of projects led by his organization. In parallel, Vladimir Chelomei continued the development of the Almaz , which would be used exclusively for military goals. In record short time, TsKBM group led by Yuri Semenov developed the space station designated DOS-7K. The station used the body from the Almaz project and modified systems from the Soyuz spacecraft.

The crews would visit the station onboard a new version of the Soyuz spacecraft designated 7K-T. On Feb. 9, 1970, the Soviet government officially endorsed the program, under code DOS-7K. As promised, at the beginning of 1971, DOS-1, the world's first space station was ready for launch. Soviet and Russian space station launches: Official name Docked to Salyut-7 on Oct. 2, 1985 This page is compiled and maintained by Anatoly Zak Last update: July 9, 2016 All rights reserved MEDIA ARCHIVE An early Soviet concept of a space station formulated at TsNIIMash research institute. Soviet officials inspect a full-scale mockup of the DOS-7K (Salyut) space station, circa 1970. Credit: Khrunichev The first-generation Salyut during the assembly. Credit: RKK Energia Soyuz launch to the Salyut-1 space station. Credit: RKK Energia The Salyut-1 space station in orbit.

Credit: RKK Energia After the loss of the first crew of the Salyut space station during landing, the pressure suits (right) were introduced for launch, landing and docking operations. Standard Pinguin suits (left) were worn during the work inside the station. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak The first generation Salyut. Credit: Anatoly Zak Scale model of the second-generation Salyut space station, which included independently guided solar arrays. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak Cutaway view of a working compartment of the second generation Salyut space station. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak The US Apollo and the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft docked for eternity in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Copyright © 2002 Anatoly Zak A 3rd generation Salyut space station, differed from its predecessors by a second docking port and a capability to be refueled in orbit from Progress cargo ships. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak A scale model of the 3rd generation Salyut space station docked with two transport spacecraft -- the Progress cargo ship and the Soyuz manned spacecraft. Apparently, no photos of such configuration exist.

Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak The Orlan spacesuit, which had been used onboard the Mir space station . Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak To negate influence of weightlessness after long-duration flights, the Salyut crewmembers were wearing Chibis suits at the end of their missions. The Chibis suits create low-pressure in the lower parts of the body, driving more blood toward legs as caused by gravity on Earth. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak Mir Space Station | Soyuz in Pravda | Soyuz Recovery | Mir Expeditions | Mir Space Station The space station Mir became a legend in its own time reflecting Russiaï¿½s past space glories and her future as a leader in space. The Russian Space Station Mir endured 15 years in orbit, three times its planned lifetime. It outlasted the Soviet Union, that launched it into space. It hosted scores of crewmembers and international visitors. It raised the first crop of wheat to be grown from seed to seed in outer space. It was the scene of joyous reunions, feats of courage, moments of panic, and months of grim determination.

It suffered dangerous fires, a nearly catastrophic collision, and darkened periods of out-of-control tumbling. Mir soared as a symbol of Russiaï¿½s past space glories and her potential future as a leader in space. And it served as the stageï¿½historyï¿½s highest stageï¿½for the first large-scale, technical partnership between Russia and the United States after a half-century of mutual antagonism. Mir did all of that and like most legends was controversial and paradoxical. At different times and by different people, Mir was called both "venerable" and "derelict." It was also "robust," "accident-prone," and "a marvel," as well as "a lemon." For Russians, the very name "Mir" held meaning, feeling, and history. Mir translates into English as "world," "peace," and "village," but a single-word translation misses its full significance. Historically, after the Edict of Emancipation in 1861, the word "mir" referred to a Russian peasant community that owned its own land. A system of state-owned collective farms replaced the mir after the Russian revolution of 1917.

Read an essay by Frank Culbertson, Shuttle-Mir Program Manager, on the meanings of "Mir: Whatï¿½s in a Name?" As with most legends, Mir was literally beyond the reach of most men and women, but it could be seen by many as a bright light arcing across the night sky. Mir undoubtedly provoked many thoughts around the globe about who weï¿½as a human raceï¿½are and where we are going. The cosmonauts and astronauts who were fortunate enough to travel to Mir were always impressed by its appearance. Regardless, Mir remained difficult to describe. Someone once called Mir a 100-ton Tinker Toy, a term that recalled Mirï¿½s construction. Adding modules over the years, and then sometimes rearranging them, the Russians had built the strangest, biggest structure ever seen in outer space. Traveling at an average speed of 17,885 mph, the space station orbited about 250 miles above the Earth. Mir was both great and gracefulï¿½and incongruous and awkwardï¿½all at the same time.

In outward appearance, Mir has also been compared to a dragonfly with its wings outstretched, and to a hedgehog whose spines could pierce a spacewalkerï¿½s suit. NASA-4 Mir Astronaut Jerry Linenger compared Mir to "six school buses all hooked together. It was as if four of the buses were driven into a four-way intersection at the same time. They collided and became attached. All at right angles to each other, these four buses made up the four Mir science modules. ï¿½ Priroda and Spektr were relatively new additions ï¿½ and looked itï¿½each sporting shiny gold foil, bleached-white solar blankets, and unmarred thruster pods. Kvant-2 and Kristall ï¿½ showed their age. Solar blankets were yellowed ï¿½ and looked as drab as a Moscow winter and were pockmarked with raggedy holes, the result of losing battles with micrometeorite and debris strikes over the years." On the inside, Mir often surprised people, too, even when they thought they were ready for the view.

By the time Americans arrived on Mirï¿½nearly a decade into its lifeï¿½the station had become cluttered with used-up and broken equipment and floating bags of trash. During Mirï¿½s lifetime, no adequate remedy was ever developed to deal with the stowage situation. Mir looked like a metal rabbit warren, or, as Mike Foale put it, "a bit like a frat house, but more organized and better looked after." Still, Mir was home and shelter to its crews, and how it looked to them depended on their perspectives and situations. The ivory-like controls of the Base Block reminded David Wolf of classic science-fiction stories, such as The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells. After a fly-around in the cramped Soyuz capsule, Jerry Linenger wrote: "Looking into the station I could see a lone ray of light shining through the port widow and outlining the dining table. We had left some food out for dinner. It was the only time during my stay in space that Mir looked warm, inviting, and spacious. It reminded me of opening the door to a summer cottage that been boarded up for the winter, looking inside, and seeing familiar surroundings." Mir set every record in long-duration spaceflight.

Physician Valeri Polyakov lived aboard Mir for a single, continuous-orbit stay of 437 days, 17 hours and 38 minutes. He completed his stay in 1995 as American Norm Thagard began his Mir residency. Polyakov's experiences contributed greatly to the biomedical studies of long-term human spaceflight conducted by the Institute of Biomedical Problems, where he served as Deputy Director. Combined with an earlier Mir expedition flight, the Russian cosmonaut spent a total 678 days, 16 hours and 33 minutes on the Russian space station. However, his achievement for total time in space was surpassed in 1999 by Sergei Avdeyev who endured a total 747 days, 14 hours and 12 minutes, during three space missions. During Shuttle-Mir, Shannon Lucid set the space endurance record for women in 1996 when she spent 188 days, 4 hours and 00 minutes in orbit. Just as "mir"ï¿½the wordï¿½had many meanings for Russians, Mirï¿½the placeï¿½provoked many different feelings.

In February 1995, Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov flew aboard the "near Mir" flight, STS-63, when the Shuttle rendezvoused with Mir. Six years earlier, Titov had spent a year aboard Mir as an expedition member, when Mir consisted of only the Base Block, the two Kvant modules, a Soyuz, and a Progress spacecraft. About seeing Mir again, Titov said, "It was very wonderful, a wonderful view." STS-63 did not dock, but Titov visited Mir again as a crewmember of STS-86. Alas, the sturdy Mir was built on a sinking foundation. Without repeated boostings, all things in low Earth orbit must eventually come down. With the new International Space Station requiring much of the Russian space programï¿½s attention and financing, the Mir Space Station was doomed to be deorbited. A strong effort rallied in Russia to keep Mir aloft; and at one point, Russian State Duma representatives were calling for the firing of Yuri Koptev from his post as the head of Russiaï¿½s aerospace agency.

However, on December 30, 2000, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed a resolution calling for Mir to be sunk into the ocean, early in 2001. Concerns circled the globe about Mir crashing into populated areas. Mirï¿½s path crossed over nearly every city on Earth. Its orbits tracked over everything between 51 degrees North and South latitude, roughly within the limits of the Aleutian Islands to the north and the southern Andes Mountains to the south. Pieces of previous large spacecraft had landed in Canada, Australia, and southern South America, albeit fortunately without any damages or casualties. For Mir, Russia acquired insurance in the event that its deorbit caused some physical damage. Japan kept a close watch because the final orbit would bring the Mir over the island nation. The U.S. government provided Russia with tracking and trajectory data, atmospheric conditions, and even solar activity, which can cause the Earthï¿½s atmosphere to expand farther into space.

Although there was considerable certainty that debris could be limited to falling in the ocean, Yuri Semenov, RSC Energia President, was quoted as saying, "We donï¿½t have a 100-percent safety guarantee." After more than 86,000 total orbits, Mir re-entered Earthï¿½s atmosphere on Friday, March 23, 2001, at 9 a.m. Moscow time. The 134-ton space structure broke up over the southern Pacific Ocean. Some of its larger pieces blazed harmlessly into the sea, about 1,800 miles east of New Zealand. Observers in Fiji reported spectacular gold- and white-streaming lights. An amazing saga and a highly successful program finally had come to a watery end. Anatoly Solovyev had lived a total of 651 days on Mir and served as Mir-24 commander for Americans Mike Foale and David Wolf. He was quoted in Star City as saying, "I am especially sad these days.

An entire era of our Soviet space program is ending, into which we invested not only our money but, what is more important, our intellectual potential." The Russiansï¿½ investment began when a Soviet Proton launcher boosted Mirï¿½s Base Block (core module) into orbit on February 20, 1986. This module resembled the existing Salyut-7 space station, but Mirï¿½s design called for expansion through the addition of future modules. Mirï¿½s first crew arrived in mid-March 1986, and the inaugural crew of Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyev stayed aboard until May 5, 1986. This Solovyev would later become the Russian cochair of the Flight Operations Working Group for the Shuttle-Mir Program. And it was he who took charge of the Moscow Mission Control Center immediately after the Progress resupply vehicle collided with Mir, during NASA-5 Mir Astronaut Mike Foaleï¿½s residency. In 1987, the Soviets added Mirï¿½s first expansion module, Kvant-1, and had the worldï¿½s first modular space station.

They still needed a more versatile way of transporting crews and equipment to and from Mirï¿½something like the American Space Shuttle. In 1988, the Soviets launched the Buran, a winged, reusable space vehicle and a close copy of the U.S. Shuttle. Its first flight was near perfect. However, at this point in history, the Soviet Union was crumbling. No further Buran flights were attempted; four planned orbiters remained unfinished. The Soyuz-TM vehicle and Progress-M resupply (cargo) vehicle became the transports of crews and supplies to the Mir. The Kvant-1 featured a docking port to accommodate the arrival of these spacecraft. The system worked well as the Russian space station was unoccupied on only five brief occasions until its deorbit on March 23, 2001. During its existence, the station had remained almost continuously occupied for nine years. Mir continued to expand during the next years with the additions of modules for research and residence. Kvant-2 arrived in November 1989 with an airlock that allowed crewmembers access to the outside of the complex for extravehicular activities.

Kristall, launched at the end of May 1990, housed Earth observation instruments and was used for semiconductor and biological experiments. Five years later, Spektr, a remote-sensing module for geophysical sciences, was added to the Mir. On June 29, 1995, U.S. Space Shuttles began docking with the Russian space station. Before this first docking, the Mir-19 crew used the Lyappa manipulator arm to relocate the Kristall, thus allowing ample clearance for Atlantis. In November 1995, a new docking module arrived via STS-74 and was attached to the Kristall to provide means for future dockings without interference. The next year, on April 23, 1996, the final module, the Priroda, was added to the Mir. The complex retained a docked Soyuz-TM vehicle at all times as this spacecraft served as the crewï¿½s "lifeboat." The vehicle carried a maximum of three persons, took two to three days to reach its destination, and could remain docked with the Mir for approximately 200 days before its orbital lifetime limit expired.

The resident Soyuz was used for an occasional, scheduled "fly-around" of the T-shaped Mir, but crews primarily ventured outside for extravehicular activities (EVAs). During Mirï¿½s lifetime, crewmembers spent more than 325 hours as part of 75 planned spacewalks to conduct research and repairs on the exterior of the structure. Additional hours were spent during three intravehicular walks inside the unpressurized Spektr module. Participants in the Mir EVAs included 29 Russian cosmonauts, 3 U.S. astronauts, 2 French astronauts, and 1 European Space Agency astronaut who was a citizen of Germany. Cosmonaut Anatoly Solovyev donned the Russian Orlan spacesuit for 16 spacewalks for a total time of 77 hours, 46 minutesï¿½more EVA time than any other spacewalker in the world. After the Russian space station moved into its second decade, the Mir became notorious as an accident-prone spacecraft, even as it remained unparalleled in continuous service. A 15-minute fire in an oxygen-generating device imperiled the station in February 1997.

Failures of the Elektron electrolysis oxygen-enerating units and problems with attitude and environmental controls often seemed to alternate with computer malfunctions and power outages. The June 1997 collision with the Progress supply vehicle breached the integrity of the Spektrï¿½s hull and rendered that module uninhabitable. But, Mir remained; and its space explorers endured. Over its lifetime, the space station hosted 125 cosmonauts and astronauts from 12 different nations. It supported 17 space expeditions, including 28 long-term crews. Its residents arrived via the 31 spacecraft that docked with Mir; nine of the dockings involved the Space Shuttle. Additionally, 64 uncrewed cargo vessels ferried supplies and equipment periodically to Mir. And, it served as a floating laboratory for 23,000 scientific and medical experiments. Although Mir was gone by early 2001 and the International Space Station (ISS) was growing rapidly in orbit, the U.S. and Russia were still using spacecraft as statecraft. On March 23ï¿½the same day as Mirï¿½s deorbitï¿½Russia expelled four U.S.

diplomats and said it would expel 46 more, in retaliation for the American expulsion of 50 Russian diplomats for espionage-like activities. It wasnï¿½t the Cold War, all over again, but international tensions were certainly continuing, and the need remained for a worthy program for U.S. and Russian cooperation. One could still apply to the ISS the same hopes that Shuttle Commander Charlie Precourt had held for it during Shuttle-Mir. Precourt had predicted that the ISS would "provide the psychological impetus for politicians to force themselves to find an agreement to disputes that otherwise they wouldnï¿½tï¿½because theyï¿½ll all look up there and say, ï¿½Well, we have an investment in that, too. We have to keep this relationship going in a proper direction.ï¿½" Although the U.S.-Russian relationship was still going in the "proper direction," toward continued cooperation in space, the proper use and the funding of ISS were still in question. NASA cost overruns for the ISS clouded the programï¿½s future, and Russiaï¿½s foreign department was threatening to reduce its participation in the ISS.

To make the situation even more complicated, the ISS partner nations were discussing whether Russia should launch a wealthy, American "space tourist" to the space station. Notwithstanding all the diplomatic wrangling, Mirï¿½s demise also coincided neatly with the successful finish to the first U.S.-Russian expedition to the ISS. On March 22, 2001, Expedition One crewmembers Sergei Krikalev, Yuri Gidzenko, and Commander William Shepherd returned to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. They received a ride from STS-102 Shuttle Commander James Wetherbee and a crew that included former Mir resident Andy Thomas. STS-102 had ferried the Expedition Two crew of James Voss, Susan Helms, and Commander Yury Usachev to the station. Just as the ISS itself grew out of the lessons of Mir, many of the principal people in the ISS Program drew from their experiences during the Shuttle-Mir Program. And, in Houston and in Moscow, American and Russian managers, engineers and technicians who had worked in the Shuttle-Mir Program were working to make the ISS a success. The International Space Station was growing, but the memories of Mir refused to fade.

Indeed, people had anticipated its demise for long enough that, even before it fell, it had entered nostalgia. In a 1998 interview, Vladimir Semyachkin reflected on Mir. He had developed the motion control systems and navigation systems for all vehicles and stations that were produced and launched into space by RSC Energia. Semyachkin, as much as anyone, had wrestled with Mirï¿½s problems. He said: "Itï¿½s a shameï¿½. Our child, who we gave birth to so many years ago, ï¿½ weï¿½re going to have to put it to sleep. But, on the other hand, we understand that sometimes thereï¿½s nothing to be doneï¿½. One cannot sit, as it were, on two chairs at the same time.

Nevertheless, despite this sorrow with ï¿½ regard to Mir, we nonetheless do look forward to the future with a great deal of hope." Landed in Space Shuttle Atlantis July 7, 1995 The major objectives of the Mir-18 mission were to conduct joint U.S.-Russian medical research and weightlessness effects investigations; to reconfigure the station for the arrival of the Spektr science module; and to welcome the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The mission saw the first American to be part of a Mir crew, NASA-1 Mir Astronaut Norman Thagard (left), the addition of the first new module (Spektr) since Kristall arrived in 1990, and the first docking of a U.S. Space Shuttle (STS-71) with the Mir complex. Pictured with Thagard are Commander Vladimir Dezhurov (center) and Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov (right). Mir Principal Expedition 19 Landed in Soyuz-TM 21 September 11, 1995 The only complete Mir mission of 1995 with an all-Russian crew, Mir-19 had many international elements.

As the first Mir crew launched on a Space Shuttle (STS-71, Atlantis), Commander Anatoly Solovyev (right) and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin (left) began their work in conjunction with the visiting U.S. crew and departing Mir-18 international crew. Two of their extravehicular activities involved deploying and retrieving international experiments. They ended their stay by welcoming the incoming international Euromir 95 crew. Mir Principal Expedition 20 Launched and landed in Soyuz-TM 22 September 3, 1995ï¿½February 27, 1996 Mir-20 was the second Mir mission with a Euromir designation and the second with a European Space Agency astronaut as part of the crew. Cosmonaut Researcher Thomas Reiter (center) was the first non-Russian Mir crewmember with the added designation of Flight Engineer. Mir-20 was also the second Mir mission to include a U.S. Space Shuttle docking (STS-74, Atlantis). During that phase of the mission, the station complex housed crewmembers from four countries. Representing Russia were Commander Yuri Gidzenko, (left) and Flight Engineer Sergei Avdeyev (right).

Reiter represented Germany as a member of the European Space Agency. Chris Hadfield, representing the Canadian Space Agency, arrived with the STS-74 crewï¿½U.S. astronauts Kenneth Cameron, James Halsell, Jr., Jerry Ross, and William McArthur, Jr. Mir Principal Expedition 21 Launched and landed in Soyuz-TM 23 February 21ï¿½September 2, 1996 Commander Yuri Onufriyenko (right) and Flight Engineer Yury Usachev (center) began their mission without the third crewmember, NASA-2 Mir Astronaut Shannon Lucid (left), who would join them on March 23 during STS-76, the third Atlantis-Mir docking mission. On one of the seven extravehicular activities during Mir-21, two STS-76 astronauts, Linda Godwin and Michael (Rich) Clifford, walked outside Mir; the first U.S. extravehicular activity (EVA) outside the two mated spacecraft and the first U.S. spacewalk outside a space station since Skylabï¿½22 years earlier.

On two other EVAs, Onufriyenko and Usachev installed a new solar array on the Kvant module. In May 1996, the last permanent module was added to the complex, Priroda, with its large complement of Earth science experiments. Mir Principal Expedition 22 Launched and landed in Soyuz-TM 24 August 17, 1996ï¿½March 2, 1997 Commander Valeri Korzun (top right), Flight Engineer Alexander Kaleri (top left), and French Researcher Claudie Andre-Deshays (bottom center) joined Shannon Lucid (top center) and the Mir-21 crew, Commander Yuri Onufriyenko (bottom right) and Flight Engineer Yury Usachev (bottom left), on Mir. Andre-Deshays returned to Earth with the Mir-21 crew after about two weeks onboard the station. Lucidï¿½s stay with the Mir-22 Expedition crew was lengthened about six weeks due to a Space Shuttle launch postponement.

STS-79 launched on September 16, 1996, delivering NASA-3 resident John Blaha and returning home with Lucid onboard on September 26. STS-81 launched on January 12, 1997, with the next U.S. resident, Jerry Linenger, who later performed a spacewalk in a Russian Orlan spacesuit. Mir Principal Expedition 23 Launched and landed Soyuz-TM 25 February 10, 1997ï¿½August 14, 1997 Mir-23 had more troubles than any other Mir expedition, including an onboard fire that occurred early in the mission with six crewmembers onboardï¿½Mir-22 crew, Valeri Korzun, Alexander Kaleri and German Researcher Reinhold Ewald; Mir-23 crew, Commander Vasily Tsibliev (left) and Flight Engineer Aleksandr Lazutkin (right); and NASA-4 resident Jerry Linenger (center).

Challenges continued for the Mir-23 crew after NASA-5 Mir Astronaut Mike Foale arrived on STS-84, when a Progress resupply vehicle collided with Mirï¿½s Spektr module, causing a loss of station control and depressurization. Mir Principal Expedition 24 Launched and landed Soyuz-TM 26 August 5, 1997ï¿½February 15, 1998 Mir-24 hosted three American astronauts, NASA-5 resident Mike Foale, NASA-6 resident David Wolf (center), and NASA-7 resident Andy Thomas. Mir continued to have systems problems, but overall conditions improved. Wolf performed an extravehicular activity with Commander Anatoly Solovyev (right). Also onboard Mir-24 was Flight Engineer Pavel Vinogradov (left). Mir Principal Expedition 25 Launched and landed Soyuz-TM 27 January 29, 1998ï¿½August 25, 1998 Mir-25 was the last Shuttle-Mir expedition.

French Astronaut Leopold Eyharts flew to Mir with the Mir-25 crew and returned to Earth with the Mir-24 crew. Russian Phase 1 Manager Valery Ryumin visited Mir with the crew of STS-91, which brought NASA-7 Mir Astronaut Andy Thomas back to Earth. Mir-25 crewmembers were Commander Talgat Musabayev and Flight Engineer Nikolai Budarin. Pictured are (top row, left to right) Ryumin, STS-91 crewmember Wendy Lawrence, Thomas, STS-91 crewmember Janet Kavandi, Budarin; (bottom row, left to right) STS-91 Commander Charlie Precourt, Musabayev, and STS-91 crewmembers Dominic Gorie and Franklin Chang-Diaz. International Space Station The International Space Station Quoting from NASA, "The mission of the International Space Station is to enable long-term exploration of space and provide benefits to the people on Earth." This is being accomplished by building a permanent orbiting platform on which research can be conducted in a near gravity-free environment.

The types of activity performed on the ISS include, but not be limited to, medical research, life sciences research, and research and development of materials. Track the International Space Station in orbit. Credit - NASA (STS-110 17 April 2002) (Click to enlarge - 712KB) The ISS doesn't have an official name. When it was first proposed during the Reagan years, it was a strictly American space station with a tentative name of "Freedom". As the early stages of partnering began, the proposed name was changed to "Alpha". That name was also dropped as Russia assumed a greater role in funding and design. Patch originally proposed for the space station "Freedom" On 2 November 2000 the first crew was given permission to use the name "Alpha" when referring to the International Space Station. This permission was given with great reluctance. Alpha indicates first, but the Russian station Mir was around years before the ISS, and the Russian Salyut stations were around before that. Then of course there was the American Skylab. The name "Alpha" never really took, so the station is commonly referred to simply as "The International Space Station" or "ISS".

(If the station WERE to have an official name, we propose calling it the "ISS Yuri Gagarin". After all, it IS the first INTERNATIONAL space station and Yuri Gagarin WAS the first person into space.) Other resources: Space Station Evolution: 6 Amazing Orbital Outposts Space Station Evolution: 6 Amazing Orbital Outposts By Tom Chao, SPACE.com Producer | May 12, 2013 10:15am ET MORE Credit: NASA Human Outposts in Space Space stations provide habitats for humans in space on longer-duration missions. These stations do not possess abilities to launch or land, being designed for use in space only. Several space stations have orbited the Earth since 1971, with two currently active at the time of this writing. FIRST STOP: Soviet Union's Salyut Stations 2 of 8 Credit: NASA Salyut 1 — Salyut 5 (Soviet Union) Launched by the Soviet Union in 1971, the Salyut 1 space station orbited the Earth almost 3,000 times during its 175 days in space before intentionally crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

The station stretched about 65 feet (20 meters) long and 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter at its widest point. Tragedy struck the station's mission when the second crew to visit, aboard Soyuz 11, experienced depressurization during their return to Earth, killing all three cosmonauts. The station did not host any further visitors. The Soviet Union then attempted to orbit stations DOS-2, Salyut 2 and Cosmos 557, but failed. Salyut 3 experienced some flaws, while Salyut 4 and Salyut 5 completed their missions successfully. NEXT: Salyut 6 and 7 3 of 8 Credit: NASA Salyut 6 and Salyut 7 (Soviet Union) Both of these stations represented a second generation of the Salyut program. A new design possessed two docking ports, allowing refueling and resupply from uncrewed Progress cargo ships. Durations of stays increased, and crews could receive visitors. A Salyut 6 crew stayed for 185 days, the longest duration at that time, beating the 84-day record of the last Skylab crew.

Salyut 6 launched in 1977 and deorbited in 1982. Salyut 7 launched in 1982 and deorbited in 1991. [ Top 10 Russian and Soviet Space Missions ] NEXT: Skylab, NASA's 1st Space Station 4 of 8 Credit: NASA Skylab (United States) The United States launched its first space station, Skylab , in 1973. The mission experienced severe problems almost immediately, as on launch a meteorite shield tore off, ripping away a solar array and preventing the other from operating. The decrease in power represented a great obstacle. The first crew that arrived 11 days later had to confront many frustrating challenges. Having overcome the initial difficulties, three three-person crews visited the station.[ Photos: Skylab, the 1st U.S. Space Station ] The third crew set a record of 84 days in space, but not without complaint about overwork, which led to tensions and finally compromise with ground controllers.

Skylab deorbited on July 11, 1979, well ahead of schedule because of high solar activity, with some spacecraft parts accidentally impacting Western Australia. Notably, the impending re-entry of Skylab produced a huge media reaction, and inspired a hilarious rant by John Belushi on the Saturday Night Live television show. [ See photos of Skylab debris in Australia ] NEXT: Mir, Russia's Long-Lived Outpost 5 of 8 Credit: NASA Mir (Soviet Union/Russia) Russia's Mir space station (the name means "peace" or "world") operated more than 15 years in low Earth orbit. Possessing a modular design, its first module launched in 1986. Amazingly, the first cosmonauts to visit the station first flew to Salyut-7 to repair it, then they flew to Mir for its opening. Six additional modules were added over the course of a decade. During that time the Soviet Union dissolved. (The cosmonaut aboard Mir at the time, Sergei Krikalev, is sometimes known as "the last Soviet citizen" as a result.) The long-lived Mir hosted every record-setting visitor in long-duration spaceflight.

Physician Valeri Polyakov lived aboard Mir for a bit over 437 days, still the record. [ Most Extreme Human Spaceflight Records ] During the Shuttle-Mir Program (1994-1998), even American astronauts visited the station. As the station aged, it developed numerous problems including an infamous onboard fire. Planning for the International Space Station eventually overtook Mir's resources, and it deorbited in 2001. Concerns about space debris again alarmed many, but the pieces of Mir fell harmlessly into the southern Pacific Ocean. NEXT: Tiangong 1, China's 1st Space Lab 6 of 8 Credit: China Central Television Tiangong 1 (China) The newest space station, China's Tiangong 1 ("Heavenly Palace"), consists of a single-module design launched on Sept. 29, 2011. The space lab measures 34 feet (10.4 meters) long and 11 feet (3.35 meters) wide.

So far the station has hosted two spacecraft, Shenzhou 8 , an uncrewed ship, and Shenzhou 9, which carried the first three crewmembers to visit the station, including China's first female taikonaut. A third mission, Shenzhou 10, is planned for sometime between June and August of 2013. [ See photos of China's Tiangong 1 space lab ] As Tiangong 1 is largely considered a prototype for a larger station, it is expected to be deorbited in 2013 after two years of operation. NEXT: International Space Station Credit: NASA International Space Station (15 Countries) The International Space Station (ISS) represents one of humanity's greatest achievements, being the most complex engineering project in history and the largest human structure in space, coming at a cost of $100 billion dollars. Fifteen countries in five different space agencies, including NASA, Russia's Federal Space Agency, the European Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, cooperated to create this flying space laboratory.

[ See the ISS from the Inside Out (Infographic) ] Built in sections, the station began in 1998 with the launch of Russia's Zarya's module. Today it spans the area of an American football field, possessing numerous pressurized and unpressurized modules. [ Rare Photos: Space Shuttle at Space Station ] Humans have continuously occupied the International Space Station since Nov. 2, 2000. In that time, 204 individuals have visited it. As of July 2012, 125 vehicles have launched to the space station since the launch of the first module: 81 Russian vehicles, 37 space shuttle missions, the U.S. SpaceX Dragon commercial vehicle (several missions), three European and three Japanese vehicles. The first crews consisted of three-person teams, dropping to two after the Columbia shuttle disaster, but as of 2009, six people can stay aboard the station at one time. Two Russian Soyuz modules remain docked to the station for crew departures. The ISS receives commands from mission control centers in Houston or Moscow.

The station has funding to operate through 2020, though it may remain capable of usefulness through 2028. [ Video Show: See Inside the International Space Station ] 8 of 8 Salyut 1: The First Space Station Salyut 1: The First Space Station By Nola Taylor Redd, Space.com Contributor | July 26, 2012 01:37pm ET MORE Diagram of the Soviet Salyut 1 space station (left), with a Soyuz spacecraft ready to dock. Credit: NASA This is part of a Space.com series of articles on the Greatest Moments in Flight, the breakthrough events that paved the way for human spaceflight and its next steps: asteroid mining and bases on the moon and Mars. Despite an array of problems, the first space station, Salyut 1, made important progress toward living and working in space long-term and paved the way for future space stations. Launched by the Soviet Union in 1971, the port orbited the Earth almost 3,000 times during its 175 days in space before it was intentionally crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

Shaped like a cylinder, Salyut 1 bore three pressurized compartments for astronauts and one unpressurized area containing the engines and control equipment. The station was about 65 feet (20 meters) long and 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter at its widest point. Two double sets of solar panels extended like wings on the exterior of the compartments at either end. Visiting the space station Salyut 1 launched unmanned from the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. Two days later, Soyuz 10 lifted off, carrying a crew of three toward the space station with the intention of remaining in space for 30 days. The cosmonauts attempted to dock with Salyut 1, but although they were able to lock onto the station, a problem with the hatch kept them from being able to enter it. They returned home early and unsuccessful. During the re-entry process, a problem rendered the air supply of Soyuz 10 toxic, and one of the cosmonauts slipped into unconsciousness. All three survived with no long-term effects.

On June 6, Soyuz 11 transported cosmonauts Georgi Dobrovolski, Vladislav Vokov, and Viktor Patsayev to Salyut 1, where after three hours, they successfully docked with the station. They remained on board for 383 orbits in the course of just over three weeks, setting a new space endurance record. On June 16, smoke from a control panel caused the crew to consider abandoning the station, but the unit was switched off and the problem averted. The crew of the Soyuz 11, shown here during practice, was killed during their return to Earth from a 22-day visit to the Salyut 1. Credit: NASA On June 29, the crew transferred back to the Soyuz 11 and began the return to Earth. Disaster struck when a ventilation valve was jolted open during the re-entry, depressurizing the interior of the ship. Cosmonauts at the time did not wear suits while in flight, so all three men were tragically killed . As a result, several changes were made to the Soviet policy, but they could not be implemented while Salyut 1 remained in orbit.

No further trips were made to the station. On October 11, 1971, the engines on Salyut 1 fired for the last time, bringing the space station into a lower orbit that would result in its eventual plunge into the Pacific Ocean. But despite its early death, Salyut 1 set the stage for stations to come after. The Soviets continued to put short-term stations into space for several years until they felt they were ready for a long-term project. Mir and the ISS In 1986, the Soviet Union launched the first components of the space station Mir, which was assembled in orbit over the course of a decade. Considerably larger than Salyut 1, Mir was just over 60 feet (19 meters) long and 100 feet (31 meters) wide. It weighed in at 285,940 pounds (129,700 kilograms), more than seven times more massive than the world's first space station. Mir orbited the Earth more than 86,000 times over the course of fifteen years, and was occupied more than 80 percent of its time in space.

The space station had the capacity to support a crew of three, with occasional short-term visitors. Valeri Polyakov spent 437 days 18 hours aboard Mir, setting the record for the longest single human space flight. Mir returned to Earth on March 23, 2001, crashing into the South Pacific Ocean. Pieces of the ninth inhabited space port, the International Space Station , or ISS, were first launched in 1998. A joint project between five space agencies — the United States, Japan, Canada, Russia, and the European Space Agency — the port has been visited by astronauts from more than 15 countries. At almost 240 feet (72.8 meters) long and 356 feet (108.5 meters) wide, the ISS weighs just under twice the mass of Mir. In 2010, it broke Mir's record of days in flight, and remains there today, serving as a laboratory and observatory in space.

[ Infographic: The International Space Station Inside and Out ] Although the first space station in flight, Salyut 1, was marred by problems, it set the stage for larger and more permanent residencies that would provide greater opportunities to endure the rigors and challenges of life off-planet. —Nola Taylor Redd Salyut | Soviet space station series | Britannica.com Soviet space station series space exploration Salyut, any of a series of Soviet space station s (of two designs), launched between 1971 and 1982, that served as living quarters and scientific laboratories or military reconnaissance platforms. The program name Salyut (Russian: “Salute”) was chosen to honour cosmonaut Yury Gagarin ’s historic first orbit of Earth in 1961. Soyuz T-5 spacecraft (foreground) docked with the Salyut 7 space station, as photographed in orbit … Tass/Sovfoto Salyut 1, launched April 19, 1971, was the world’s first space station.

It was derived from the Almaz reconnaissance platform designed in the 1960s by Soviet aerospace engineer Vladimir Chelomey and adapted for use with the Soyuz manned spacecraft originally developed by his rival Sergey Korolyov for the Soviet Moon-landing program. It weighed 20 metric tons, had a single docking port, and took the form of a stepped cylinder 14.6 metres (48 feet) long, with its widest, rearmost section 4.25 metres (13.9 feet) in diameter. After a record-breaking 23 days aboard Salyut 1 in June 1971, the inaugural three-man crew died while returning to Earth when their Soyuz, which at that time carried no support system for individual pressure suits, inadvertently lost its air. Salyut 2 (launched 1973) suffered an explosion after being placed in orbit and was never occupied. Salyuts 3 and 5 (1974 and 1976, respectively) were military space stations, while Salyut 4 (1974) was basically for scientific purposes.

The scientific Salyuts 6 and 7 (1977 and 1982, respectively) were of an advanced design that featured a new refueling system and better living quarters. Docking ports on both ends allowed crews on long-duration missions to be resupplied by automated Progress cargo ferries while their Soyuz remained attached to the station. Salyut 6 supported a particularly successful scientific program, and its crews hosted a succession of international guest cosmonauts for short stays. The experience gained in the Salyut program laid the groundwork for the development and operation of the next-generation modular Mir space station. (See also Energia .)

Question: What was the name of the Soviet space station?
Answer: Mir