Mir
Mir was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001. Mir was the 1st modular space station and had a bigger mass than any of the other spacecraft. Mir was holding the record for longest satellite orbiting the Earth. It stills holds the record for longest single person spaceflight by Valeri Polyakov who stayed in the station for 437 days and 18 hours.
Mir served as a microgravity research laboratory in which the crews had conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and spacecraft systems. The purpose was to develop technologies required for the permanent occupation of space. Mir was occupied for a total of twelve and a half years of its fifteen year lifespan. It had the capacity to support a resident crew of three and a larger crew for a short time visit. It took ten years to build the space station. Mirs very first launch date was on February 20, 1986 and its altitude was 223 mi (358 km), and the speed of the orbit was 17202.041 mph (27684 km/h).
Resources
Mir space station." 29 Jan. 2013 <http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html>
Mir space station." 29 Jan. 2013 <http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html>
Mir served as a microgravity research laboratory in which the crews had conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and spacecraft systems. The purpose was to develop technologies required for the permanent occupation of space. Mir was occupied for a total of twelve and a half years of its fifteen year lifespan. It had the capacity to support a resident crew of three and a larger crew for a short time visit. It took ten years to build the space station. Mirs very first launch date was on February 20, 1986 and its altitude was 223 mi (358 km), and the speed of the orbit was 17202.041 mph (27684 km/h).
Resources
Mir space station." 29 Jan. 2013 <http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html>
Mir space station." 29 Jan. 2013 <http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html>