Mir

Mir (???, which can mean both world and peace in Russian) was a highly successful Soviet (and later Russian) space station. It was humanity's first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space. Through a number of collaborations, it was made internationally accessible to cosmonauts and astronauts of many different countries. Mir was assembled in orbit by successively connecting several modules, each launched separately from February 19, 1986 to 1996. The station existed until March 23, 2001, at which point it was deliberately de-orbited and broke apart during atmospheric re-entry.

Names

In Russian, Mir (???) means "peace," and connotes "community." Kvant (?????) means "quantum," a name derived from its purpose to provide research in astrophysics by measuring electromagnetic spectra and x-ray emissions. Kristall (????????) means "crystal," and a main purpose of this module is to develop biological and materials production technologies in the space environment. Spektr (??????) means "spectrum," so named for its atmospheric sensors. Priroda (???????) means "nature." Progress (????????) means the same as it does in English. Soyuz (????) means "union," so named for the USSR (Sovietskii Soyuz, ????????? ???? = Soviet Union) and because the spacecraft was a union of three smaller modules.

Related Topics:
Quantum - Astrophysics - Electromagnetic spectra - X-ray - Emissions - Crystal - Spectrum - Atmospheric - Sensors

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