Shuttle–Mir program

The project also saw the launch of two new modules, Spektr and Priroda, to Mir, which were used by American astronauts as living quarters and laboratories to conduct the majority of their science aboard the station.

The seven astronauts who took part in the Increments, Norman Thagard, Shannon Lucid, John Blaha, Jerry Linenger, Michael Foale, David Wolf and Andrew Thomas, were each flown in turn to Star City, Russia, to undergo training in various aspects of the operation of Mir and the Soyuz spacecraft used for transport to and from the Station.

Mir's purpose was to provide a large and habitable scientific laboratory in space, and, through a number of collaborations, including Intercosmos and Shuttle–Mir, was made internationally accessible to cosmonauts and astronauts of many different countries.

The crew consisted of cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov and NASA astronaut Norman Thagard, who became the first American to fly into space aboard the Soyuz spacecraft.

During the course of their 115-day expedition, the Spektr science module (which served as living and working space for American astronauts) was launched aboard a Proton rocket and docked to Mir.

Atlantis also carried out on-orbit joint US-Russian life sciences investigations aboard a Spacelab module and performed a logistical resupply of the station.

During the course of the flight, nearly 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of water were transferred to Mir and experiment samples including blood, urine and saliva were moved to Atlantis for return to Earth.

[20][28][29][30] Continuous US presence aboard Mir started in 1996 with the March 22 launch of Atlantis on mission STS-76, when the Second Increment astronaut Shannon Lucid was transferred to the station.

The spacewalks, carried out from Atlantis's crew cabin, provided valuable experience for astronauts in order to prepare for later assembly missions to the International Space Station.

[31] Lucid became the first American woman to live on station, and, following a six-week extension to her Increment due to issues with Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters, her 188-day mission set the US single spaceflight record.

[35] The STS-81 crew also tested the Shuttle Treadmill Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System (TVIS), designed for use in the Zvezda module of the International Space Station.

All three crewmembers of expedition EO-23 performed a "fly-around" in the Soyuz spacecraft, first undocking from one docking port of the station, then manually flying to and redocking the capsule at a different location.

The aim was to collect data from a European sensor device designed for future rendezvous of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) with the International Space Station.

[20][36] Foale's Increment proceeded fairly normally until June 25, when a resupply ship collided with solar arrays on the Spektr module during the second test of the Progress manual docking system, TORU.

The crew quickly cut cables leading to the module and closed Spektr's hatch in order to prevent the need to abandon the station in their Soyuz lifeboat.

Fortunately, food, water and other vital supplies were stored in other modules, and salvage and replanning effort by Foale and the science community minimized the loss of research data and capability.

[9][20] In an effort to restore some of the power and systems lost following the isolation of Spektr and to attempt to locate the leak, Mir's new commander Anatoly Solovyev and flight engineer Pavel Vinogradov carried out a salvage operation later in the mission.

They entered the empty module during a so-called "IVA" spacewalk, inspecting the condition of hardware and running cables through a special hatch from Spektr's systems to the rest of the station.

During the five-hour spacewalk, the pair affixed a 121-pound (55 kg) Solar Array Cap to the Docking Module, for a future attempt by crew members to seal off the leak in Spektr's hull.

The mission returned Foale to Earth, along with samples, hardware, and an old Elektron oxygen generator, and dropped Wolf off on the Station ready for his 128-day Increment.

The new rules required that all Mir crew members should be trained and ready for spacewalks, but a Russian spacesuit could not be prepared for Lawrence in time for launch.

[43] In 2015, a reconfiguration of the American segment was completed to allow its docking ports to accommodate NASA-sponsored commercial crew vehicles, that were expected to start visiting the ISS in 2018.

With over 332 cubic metres (11,700 cu ft) of habitable volume and a mass of 400,000 kilograms (880,000 lb) the completed station is almost twice the size of the combined Shuttle–Mir spacecraft.

[51] Criticism of the program was primarily concerned with the safety of the aging Mir, particularly following the fire aboard the station and collision with the Progress supply vessel in 1997.

During Phase One and afterward, the station was showing her age—constant computer crashes, loss of power, uncontrolled tumbles through space and leaking pipes were an ever-present concern for crews.

Astronauts, managers and various members of the press all complained that the benefits of the program were outweighed by the risks associated with it, especially considering the fact that most of the US science experiments had been contained within the holed module.

Because of Russia's financial issues, many workers at the TsUP felt that the mission hardware and continuation of Mir was more important than the lives of the cosmonauts aboard the station.

[9][57] Following the two accidents in 1997, astronaut Jerry Linenger felt that the Russian authorities attempted a cover-up to downplay the significance of the incidents, fearing that the Americans would back out of the partnership.

Before and after Phase One, a great deal of Russia's space finances came from flights of astronauts from Europe and other countries, with one Japanese TV station paying $9.5 million to have one of their reporters, Toyohiro Akiyama, flown aboard Mir.

[9] By the start of Phase One, cosmonauts regularly found their missions extended to save money on launchers, the six-yearly flights of the Progress had been reduced to three, and there was a distinct possibility of Mir being sold for around $500 million.

A "Shuttle– Salyut " program was proposed in the 1970s, yet never realized. This rendering depicts a Space Shuttle docked to a second-generation Salyut space station , with a Soyuz spacecraft docked to Salyut 's aft port.
A cluster of cylindrical modules with projecting feathery solar arrays and a spaceplane docked to the lower module. In the background is the blackness of space, and in the lower right corner is Earth.
Space Shuttle Atlantis docked to Mir on STS-71
A portrait of six men and one woman, arranged in two rows, four sitting at the front and three standing at the back. They are each wearing tan trousers and a blue polo shirt with a patch and their name on it, and the US and NASA flags are visible in the background.
The seven American astronauts who carried out long-duration Increments on Mir
A cluster of cylindrical modules with projecting feathery solar arrays, with Earth's horizon visible in the background.
The view of Mir from Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998 as it left the station during STS-91
An overhead view of a spaceplane, coloured white on its topside and black on its underside, attached to a large orange tank, to which two slender white rockets are also attached. A gray platform supporting this stack serves as the background.
An overhead view of Atlantis as it sits atop the Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP) before STS-79
A space shuttle launches into a dawn sky. Clouds in the sky, in the launch plume and from the flame trench, are visible, as is the scaffolding-like launchpad and some vegetation silhouetted in the foreground.
The Shuttle– Mir program begins— Discovery launches on STS-60 , the first flight of the program.
A cluster of modules and feathery solar arrays floats in the middle distance before an image of the Earth and the blackness of space above its horizon. Sunrays project from the top centre of the image.
A view of Mir following Atlantis 's undocking at the end of STS-71
A space shuttle payload bay, covered in white insulation, with a small, cylindrical orange module at one end, supported by the shuttle's robotic arm. The blackness of space and the Earth serve as the backdrop.
The Mir Docking Module , positioned in Atlantis 's payload bay on STS-74 , ready to be docked to Kristall
A rectangular dish shape of scaffolding covered in transparent sheeting, with a white insulation-covered radio receiver and support projecting from the centre. The blackness of space serves as the backdrop.
A view of the Travers RADAR antenna on the newly launched Priroda module during STS-79
A view showing a module covered in white insulation with a smaller module, covered in orange insulation, connected to the end of it. Part of a space shuttle can be seen attached to the orange module, and a number of folded and unfolded solar arrays are visible. The limb of the Earth forms the backdrop.
Space Shuttle Atlantis docked to Mir during STS-81 . The crew compartment, nose and a portion of the payload bay of Atlantis are visible, behind Mir 's Kristall and Docking Modules.
A white panel covered in buttons, which shows signs of fire damage on its bottom edge. Wiring and other pieces of hardware are arrayed beneath the panel.
A charred panel onboard Mir following the fire
Picture of the damage caused by the collision with Progress M-34, taken by Atlantis during STS-86
A gold-coloured solar array, bent and twisted out of shape and with several holes. The edge of a module can be seen to the right of the image, and Earth is visible in the background.
Damaged solar arrays on Mir 's Spektr module following a collision with an uncrewed Progress spacecraft in September 1997
A cluster of modules, covered in white insulation and projecting feathery solar arrays, with a small spacecraft covered in brown insulation docked at their centre. The image is seen through a window, with the blackness of space and the Earth forming the backdrop.
A view of Mir from Atlantis 's window, showing several of the station's modules and the docked Soyuz capsule
A spaceplane, coloured white on its topside and black on its underside, lands on a runway. A strip of turf is visible in the foreground, there are trees in the background and there is a cloud of smoke coming from the spaceplane's rear wheels.
Space Shuttle Discovery lands at the end of STS-91 on 12 June 1998, bringing the Shuttle– Mir program to a close.
Three modules linked in a linear arrangement float in space with the Earth in the background. The top module is a metallic cylinder with a large white circle visible on it and a black cone at either end. The two lower modules are cylindrical and covered in white insulation, and have two blue solar arrays projecting from each. A smaller, brown spacecraft is docked to the lower module.
The International Space Station , Phase Two of the ISS program
A man holding a piece of hose floats in front of a selection of transient space station hardware. He is wearing a gray-and-yellow plastic mask over his mouth and nose, a pair of goggles above his eyes, and a blue jumpsuit with a name patch on it.
Astronaut Jerry Linenger wearing a respirator mask following the 1997 fire aboard Mir