I’m very much a child of the Space Age. I was born the year after Sputnik became the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, celebrated my 10th birthday on the very day that humans first set foot on the Moon, and turned 17 on the day that the first Viking lander set down on Mars. In some ways, I’m disappointed in the way space exploration has proceeded in the years since–when I was a kid, there was confident talk of sending men to Mars in 1986, and I used to say I intended to retire on the Moon, where the light gravity would be easier on an old heart. That doesn’t seem likely now–but on the other hand, some of the things that are being accomplished in space would have seemed even more unlikely back at the height of the space race.
Back then, we dreamed of humans having a permanent presence in space. We didn’t expect the Russians to achieve that goal first, but they did, with their space station Mir. Even more shocking to a true Space Race veteran, however, is the fact that U.S. astronauts have joined the Russians aboard Mir, as part of the ongoing research leading up to construction of the International Space Station, scheduled to begin next year. In fact, the most recent American astronaut to live on Mir, Jerry Linenger, returned to Earth just this past Saturday after four months aboard; he was replaced by astronaut Michael Foale, whose stint will last until September.
The Mir Complex is not the elegant, wheel-shaped space station envisioned in the ’60s (such as the one that appears in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey). In fact, it’s not a single object at all, but a whole series of modules bolted together over time–lots of time: parts of Mir have been in space for more than a decade now.
The central module of the Mir complex (Mir is usually translated as meaning “peace,” although “commune” or “world” are other translations) was launched into space in February, 1986. This central module consists of four compartments: a transfer compartment, a working compartment, an assembly compartment and an intermediate compartment. All except for the assembly compartment are pressurized.
The transfer compartment is the central hub of Mir. It’s a sphere with five docking ports: a main port, located along the central module’s main axis, where transport and cargo spacecraft dock, and four ports that radiate out from the axis at 90-degree intervals, to which various other modules are linked.
The working compartment is the main habitable space. It’s made up of two cylinders connected by a tapered, conical section. It’s a little more than 13 metres long and about four metres in diameter at its widest point–not exactly a huge space in which to spend months in orbit! The working compartment is divided into an operations zone and a living zone–the living zone occupies the section with the largest diameter. Although, considering the weightless conditions, up and down are meaningless terms, crews on the Mir complex prefer an Earth-like arrangement of floor and ceiling, so the floor of the operations zone (Mir’s command centre) has a dark green carpet, light green walls and a white ceiling, containing fluourescent lamps. The living area has a similar arrangement, except it uses soft pastel colors. The living area contains a galley area with a table, cooking elements and trash storage, plus individual crew cabins, each of which includes a porthole, hinged chairs and a sleeping bag. The aft end of the working compartment contains a toilet, sink and shower.
The non-pressurized assembly compartment contains Mir’s main engine and fuel tanks, plus various antennas and sensors, and the intermediate compartment is a pressurized tunnel about two metres in diameter that connects the working module to the aft docking port.
Mir gets its power from solar panels, three of which are connected to the smaller cylinder of the working compartment.
The central module was only the beginning of Mir. Since that time, numerous other modules have been added, including the Kvant-1 Astrophysics Module, attached to the aft docking port of the central module, which primarily provides data and observations for research into the physics of active galaxies, quasars and neutron stars. Kvant-1 also contains gyrostabilizers that can change the station attitude without using any fuel.
The Kvant-2 Scientific and Airlock Module is attached to one of the central module’s radial docking port; it provides biological research data, earth observation data and EVA capability, and also contains additional life support systems and additional shower and washing facilities.
The Kristall Technological Module is located on the radial docking part opposite Kvant 2; it has two more solar panels, and is used primarily to develop biological and materials porduction technologies. It includes a docking port originally intended to be used by the Russian’s now-defunct Buran space shuttle; instead, it is now attached to the Docking Module installed by a space shuttle crew in 1995. This is the doorway through which U.S. astronauts enter the space station.
The Spektre module carries four solar arrays and scientific equipment (supplied by both the Russians and the United States) used for Earth observation, especially of natural resources and atmosphere, while the Priroda module is designed for astronomical observation.
At any one time the Mir space station may have up to three spacecraft docked at it. The Soyuz-TM spacecraft is the Russian vehicle that carries cosmonauts to Mir and is always standing by as a “lifeboat” in case of emergency. The Progress-M vehicles is an unmanned craft used to send food and other supplies to the station. It also serves as a garbage truck; trash is dumped into it and it is released to burn up in the atmosphere (there’s always more left on board, though; pictures from inside Mir make it look a lot like my basement–full of junk nobody can quite bring themselves to throw away, even though it hasn’t been used for years). Finally, the U.S.’s manned space shuttle is sometimes docked at the station to pick up and drop off astronauts and equipment. There can sometimes be two Soyuz-TM spacecraft docked, if a new Russian crew is coming aboard. It takes two days for a Soyuz-TM launched from Russia to dock with the station. During docking, the crew inside the station puts on spacesuits and retreats into its own spacecraft just in case something goes drastically wrong. Those remaining behind do the same thing when the retiring crew leaves the station. For a limited time, both crews inhabit the station as the old crew tells the new crew the things they need to know about the station’s current status.
As I pointed out earlier, Mir–especially the central module–is ancient by spacecraft standards. This was brought home most forecfully during Linenger’s time on the station. An on-board fire in February and a break-down of both main generators in March both could have forced evacuation. As well, cooling-system leaks in April required the crew to use respirators for a few days (because of antifreeze fumes) and endure temperatures in the 90s, with high humidity.
Those kinds of problems have prompted some members of Congress in the U.S. to question whether U.S. astronauts should be staying on the Mir complex, but NASA officials have no doubts, pointing out that even serious problems like the fire provide valuable information that can be used in the design and operation of the international space station.
That shiny new station is still years away. In the meantime, the Mir complex, despite its age and maintenance problems, will continue to provide humanity with a permanent presence in space. It may be not be new any more, but like a faithful, if slightly rusty, old car, it’s still getting the job done…and most importantly, it’s pointing the way to how things will be done in the future, as more and more nations cooperate in space.
It’s not the future we envisioned in the ’60s…but in some ways, it’s even better.
