On March 23, 2001, after 15 years of service in space, the Russian space station Mir was deorbited and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean at 08:59:24 Moscow time.
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© RIA Novosti
On March 23, 2001, after 15 years of service in space, the Russian space station Mir was deorbited and splashed down into the Pacific Ocean at 08:59:24 Moscow time.
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© RIA Novosti
The coordinates of the fallen wreckage were 40 degrees south latitude, 160 degrees west longitude. The unburned components fell within a general longitudinal trajectory of plus or minus 1,500 km.
The Mir Space Station is a one-of-a-kind relic of the 20th century. While in operation, it orbited Earth 86,331 times. ный городок.
The design of the station began to take shape in 1976, when the Energia Scientific and Production Association issued technical proposals for the creation of improved long-term orbital stations.
Over 280 organizations under the auspices of 20 ministries and departments worked on Mir. The base unit was launched on February 20, 1986. Within 10 years, another six modules docked with it.
Photo: Orbital Research Station Mir during preparations, 1986.
Photo: Orbital Research Station Mir during preparations, 1986.
In 1995, Valery Polyakov (left) set a record for time on board Mir – a 438-day continuous stay in space.
Soviet Pilot-Cosmonaut and Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Yury Romanenko spent 326 days 11 hours 38 minutes in orbit (1987).
Starting in 1995, foreign crews began to visit the station. There were 15 visiting crews at the station, 14 of them international, including astronauts from Syria, Bulgaria, Afghanistan, France, Japan, Britain, Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Canada. Photo: 1995. One task on a flight of the American shuttle Discovery was to approach the orbital station Mir.
The Atlantis shuttle docked seven times with Mir, and the Endeavor and Discovery docked once each as part of the Shuttle-Mir program, during which 44 astronauts visited the station.
Photo: The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian orbital station Mir, 1995. The photo was taken from within the Mir station.
Photo: The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian orbital station Mir, 1995. The photo was taken from within the Mir station.
By the late 1990s, the station began to experience numerous problems due to various device and system failures. After some deliberation, the Russian government, citing the high cost of continued operation, decided to decommission Mir despite numerous proposals to save it.
Rendering of the orbital space station Mir.
