Exactly 20 years ago, a series of strange accidents at the Russian Mir station led to the decision to start decommissioning it, followed by flooding. This peculiar anniversary would have passed unnoticed if it were not for the premiere of the next Hollywood "space horror". The fantastic blockbuster Zhivoe tells about the tragic death of the ISS crew in the fight against an unusual Martian microorganism. This rather hackneyed theme, brilliantly revealed by Riddy Scott in the epic about “foreign” monsters and by John Bruno in “Virus”, unexpectedly received an original continuation. The intrigue was generated by the words of the creator of "Alive" Daniel Espinosa that the plot was inspired by one of the versions of the death of the predecessor of the ISS - the station "Mir".

"Domino effect" in emergency situations

At the end of July 1997, one of the leaders of the Mir program, Sergei Krikalev, held a sensational press conference. On it, he spoke about a series of mysterious accidents.

It all started on February 23, 1997, when a fire broke out during a crew change. The reason was a substandard pyrolysis checker, which serves to replenish oxygen, which was lit after six people had accumulated on board. Although the fire was extinguished, the thermoregulation system began to malfunction. As a result, the new crew, consisting of Vasily Tsibliyev, Alexander Lazutkin and Jerry Linenger, had to inhale refrigerant vapors for a week and “steam” at a 30-degree temperature. The thermal control system was repaired only by mid-June.

On June 25, 1997, during the maneuvers of the Progress M-34 truck, it collided with the Spektr scientific module. As a result, a crack formed through which air began to escape. I had to batten down the passage hatch to the Spektr, but then the voltage began to drop at the station. It turned out that the cables and solar panels of the Spektra were damaged, giving almost
one third of electricity.

The next morning, the astronauts woke up in darkness and cold. It turned out that at night the on-board computer lost contact with the position sensors and switched to emergency mode, turning off the heating and the orientation system. So the station lost the optimal location of the solar panels, and the batteries were discharged.

In the end, the station was able to orient with the engines of the moored Soyuz TM-25 spacecraft, and the solar panels charged the batteries again.

What about the onboard computer?

On August 5, Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov arrived to replace Tsibliyev and Lazutkin with repair equipment to restore Mir. The new shift encountered difficulties already during docking, when the automation did not work and Solovyov had to berth in manual mode. He maneuvered and managed to save the day by taking control in the event of another computer failure during the re-docking of the Progress M-35.

Then the astronauts set about repairing the onboard computer, recalling the HAL 9000 supercomputer that destroyed almost the entire crew of the spacecraft in Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey. The computers were debugged and the repair of the electrolysis generator for oxygen production began.

After that, the cosmonauts put on their spacesuits and entered the depressurized module through the transfer lock of the docking station. They managed to restore the cables leading to the Spectra solar panels. Now we had to find out how many holes the station received. However, checking suspicious places did not give anything. The search for an air leak had to continue. At this time, failures of the main computer resumed. They managed to assemble it from two faulty ones, but the problems followed one after another, as if the spirit of HAL 9000 had really entered the computer ...

All these events led to the curtailment of work at the station. According to the official version, the situation at the station was considered by major space technology experts together with designers and manufacturers. They came to the conclusion that Mir had already exhausted its resources long ago, and further stay on it was becoming simply dangerous.

Alternative version

Many alternative cosmonautics historians believe that the events during the 14th main expedition, which lasted from July 1, 1993 to January 14, 1994, served as the cause of the death of the Mir station. Then Vasily Tsibliyev, Alexander Serebrov and Frenchman Jean-Pierre Haignere arrived at the station.

While checking the equipment for spacewalks left over from the previous crew, flight engineer Serebrov opened the knapsack of one of the spacesuits, and he was immediately enveloped in a cloud of greenish dust. It turned out that several layers of strange mold had formed on the inner surface of the suit.

The team had to clean out the compartment where the spacesuits were stored for a long time with improvised means. Finally, almost all the mold spores from the air and the suit were sent to the dust collector. However, after a few hours, the water from the regeneration system acquired a putrid taste, and a musty smell appeared in the compartments.

The cosmonauts sent a request to the Mission Control Center to change the regeneration column, but the situation on Earth was not considered critical. Then the astronauts dismantled the column themselves and saw that the replaceable filter was clogged with yellow-green crumbs.

Subsequently, the mold mutating in weightlessness and under the influence of cosmic radiation began to destroy the equipment of the station. Fire detectors and air analyzers were particularly affected. This is indirectly confirmed by the analyzes of the Laboratory of Microbiology of the Habitat and Antimicrobial Protection of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in which extensive traces of mold were found on some of the instruments that returned from the station.

Bioisk program

The Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences launched a targeted program to study the behavior of microorganisms in space conditions. She received the name "Biorisk".

During the experiments, spores of microscopic fungi were sent into space as the most resistant to an airless environment and radiation. They were placed on the metal structures from which the outer shell of the spacecraft was made. The samples were then placed in a Petri dish separated from vacuum by a membrane filter. In space conditions, disputes spent a year and a half. When they were returned to Earth and placed in a nutrient medium, the spores immediately began to grow and multiply.

All this shed new light on the old problem of space technology disinfection. Indeed, in the case of the return of expeditions that have visited different parts of the solar system, terrestrial microorganisms can change significantly.

space infection

After returning to Earth, the astronauts of the 14th expedition developed symptoms of a strange disease. They were especially strong in Serebrov, who complained of pain in the abdomen, nausea and constant weakness. The cosmonaut turned to the Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology for help, but the doctors could not make an accurate diagnosis.

On March 23, 2001, the record-breaking station, which worked three times longer than originally planned, was flooded in the Pacific Ocean, not far from the Fiji Islands. Scientists assured: the station was heat-treated during flight through the atmosphere. In such an oven, not a single microbe will survive. But they recognized that the properties of the mold mutating in weightlessness are not known until the end. What if the space microorganisms on the submerged station survived? Is there a threat that an unknown infection will come to earth from the water depths?

Mutants or conspiracies?

A couple of years ago, many media reported on the sensational discovery of traces of some microorganisms on the outer structures of the ISS. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that these organisms were plankton, which had somehow found their way onto the station's hull.

Astrobiologists who study all life in space have put forward a theory according to which plankton got to the ISS on one of the spacecraft. For example, this could well have happened at NASA's main rocket launcher in Florida at Cape Canaveral, where strong winds often blow from the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

According to another hypothesis, put forward many years ago by the patriarch of British science fiction, Brian Aldiss, in his novel Earth's Long Twilight, microorganisms are constantly being carried tens of kilometers up by atmospheric currents and traveling thousands of kilometers.

Nevertheless, the mysteries of mold on the Mir station and plankton on the ISS still do not find explanations that would suit everyone.

And the strange death of the Mir station, it turns out, has a conspiracy explanation. He was voiced by Czech space historian Karel Pacner in the bestselling book The Secret Race to the Moon. In his opinion, the reasons for the hasty destruction of the station are the most banal - corruption and embezzlement. According to Pazner, the cost of maintaining this object diverged into the pockets of the leadership of the space industry, and the station accumulated a lot of unique instruments and equipment that existed only on paper.

Traces had to be covered urgently, and the mold legend was used to prepare public opinion. In general, as they say in the popular series, the truth is somewhere nearby.

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Orbital complex "Soyuz TM-26" - "Mir" - "Progress M-37" January 29, 1998. The photo was taken from the board of the MTKK "Endeavour" during the expedition STS-89

"Mir" - manned research, which operated in near-Earth space from February 20, 1986 to March 23, 2001.

Story

The project of the station began to be outlined in 1976, when NPO Energia issued Technical Proposals for the creation of improved long-term orbital stations. In August 1978, a draft design of the new station was released. In February 1979, work began on the creation of a new generation station, work began on the base unit, onboard and scientific equipment. But by the beginning of 1984, all resources were thrown into the Buran program, and work on the station was practically frozen. The intervention of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Grigory Romanov, who set the task of completing work on the station by the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, helped.

280 organizations worked on Mir under the auspices of 20 ministries and departments. The design of the stations of the Salyut series became the basis for the creation of the Mir orbital complex and the Russian segment. The base unit was launched into orbit on February 20, 1986. Then, over the course of 10 years, six more modules were docked one after the other with the help of the Lyappa space manipulator.

Since 1995, foreign crews began to visit the station. Also, 15 visiting expeditions visited the station, 14 of them were international, with the participation of cosmonauts from Syria, Bulgaria, Afghanistan, France (5 times), Japan, Great Britain, Austria, Germany (2 times), Slovakia, Canada.

As part of the Mir-Shuttle program, seven short-term visiting expeditions were carried out with the help of the Atlantis spacecraft, one with the help of the Endeavor spacecraft and one with the help of the Discovery spacecraft, during which 44 astronauts visited the station.

In the late 1990s, numerous problems began at the station due to the constant failure of various instruments and systems. After some time, the government of the Russian Federation, referring to the high cost of further operation, despite the numerous existing projects for saving the station, decided to flood the Mir. On March 23, 2001, the station, which had worked three times longer than originally set, was flooded in a special area in the South Pacific Ocean.

In total, 104 astronauts from 12 countries worked on the orbital station. The spacewalk was performed by 29 cosmonauts and 6 astronauts. During its existence, the Mir orbital station transmitted about 1.7 terabytes of scientific information. The total mass of cargo returned to Earth with the results of experiments is about 4.7 tons. Photographs of 125 million square kilometers of the earth's surface were made from the station. Experiments were carried out on higher plants at the station.

Station records:

• Valery Polyakov - continuous stay in space for 437 days 17 hours 59 minutes (1994 - 1995).
• Shannon Lucid - women's space flight record - 188 days 4 hours 1 minute (1996).
• The number of experiments is over 23,000.

Compound

Long-term orbital station "Mir" (base unit)

The seventh long-term orbital station. Designed to provide working and rest conditions for the crew (up to six people), control the operation of on-board systems, supply electricity, provide radio communications, transmit telemetry information, television images, receive command information, control orientation and orbit correction, ensure rendezvous and docking of target modules and transport ships , maintaining a given temperature and humidity regime of the living space, structural elements and equipment, providing conditions for astronauts to enter open space, conducting scientific and applied research and experiments using the delivered target equipment.

Starting weight - 20900 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length - 13.13 m, maximum diameter - 4.35 m, volume of hermetic compartments - 90 m 3 , free volume - 76 m 3 . The design of the station included three hermetic compartments (transitional, working and transitional chamber) and an unpressurized aggregate compartment.

Target modules

"Quantum"

"Quantum"- experimental (astrophysical) module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed for a wide range of research, primarily in the field of extra-atmospheric astronomy.

Starting weight - 11050 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length - 5.8 m, maximum hull diameter - 4.15 m, sealed compartment volume - 40 m 3 . The design of the module included a sealed laboratory compartment with a transition chamber and an unpressurized compartment for scientific instruments.

It was launched as part of a modular experimental transport ship on March 31, 1987 at 03:16:16 UTC from launcher No. 39 of the 200th site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle.

"Quantum-2"

"Quantum-2"- retrofit module for the Mir orbital complex. Designed to equip the orbital complex with equipment and scientific equipment, as well as to provide astronauts with access to outer space.

Starting weight - 19565 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length - 12.4 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, volume of hermetic compartments - 59 m 3 . The design of the module included three hermetic compartments: instrument-cargo, instrument-scientific and airlock special.

It was launched on November 26, 1989 at 16:01:41 UTC from launcher No. 39 of the 200th site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle.

"Crystal"

"Crystal"- technological module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed for pilot production of semiconductor materials, purification of biologically active substances in order to obtain new drugs, growing crystals of various proteins and hybridization of cells, as well as for conducting astrophysical, geophysical and technological experiments.

Starting weight - 19640 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length -12.02 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, volume of hermetic compartments - 64 m 3 . The design of the module included two sealed compartments: instrument-cargo and instrument-docking.

It was launched on May 31, 1990 at 13:33:20 UTC from launcher No. 39 of the 200th site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle.

"Range"

"Range"- optical module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed to study the natural resources of the Earth, the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere, the own outer atmosphere of the orbital complex, geophysical processes of natural and artificial origin in the near-Earth space and in the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere, cosmic radiation, biomedical research, the study of the behavior of various materials in an open space.

Starting weight - 18807 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length - 14.44 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, the volume of the sealed compartment - 62 m 3 . The design of the module consists of a sealed instrument-cargo and non-pressurized compartments.

It was launched on May 20, 1995 at 06:33:22 UTC from launcher No. 23 of the 81st site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle.

"Nature"

"Nature"- research module of the Mir orbital complex. Designed to study the surface and atmosphere of the Earth, the atmosphere in the immediate vicinity of the Mir, the effect of cosmic radiation on the human body and the behavior of various materials in outer space, as well as obtaining ultra-pure drugs under weightlessness.

Starting weight - 19340 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length - 11.55 m, maximum diameter - 4.15 m, the volume of the sealed compartment - 65 m 3 . The design of the module included one sealed instrument-cargo compartment.

It was launched on April 23, 1996 at 14:48:50 UTC from launcher No. 23 of the 81st site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome by the Proton-K launch vehicle.

Module of the orbital complex "Mir". Designed to provide the possibility of docking the MTKK "Space Shuttle".

Weight, together with two delivered and attachment points to the cargo compartment of the MTKK "Space Shuttle" - 4350 kg. Geometric characteristics: hull length - 4.7 m, maximum length - 5.1 m, sealed compartment diameter - 2.2 m, maximum width (at the ends of the horizontal mounting pins in the shuttle cargo compartment) - 4.9 m, maximum height (from the end of the keel pin to the container of the additional SB) - 4.5 m, the volume of the sealed compartment - 14.6 m 3. The design of the module included one sealed compartment.

It was delivered into orbit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis on November 12, 1995 during the STS-74 mission. The module, along with the Shuttle, docked at the station on 15 November.

Soyuz transport ships

Soyuz TM-24 docked to the transfer compartment of the Mir orbital station. Photo taken from the Atlantis MTKK during the STS-79 expedition



Briefly about the article: The ISS is the most expensive and ambitious project of mankind on the way to space exploration. However, the construction of the station is in full swing, and it is not yet known what will happen to it in a couple of years. We talk about the creation of the ISS and plans for its completion.

space house

international space station

You remain in charge. But don't touch anything.

A joke by Russian cosmonauts about the American Shannon Lucid, which they repeated every time they went out into outer space from the Mir station (1996).

Back in 1952, the German rocket scientist Wernher von Braun said that humanity would need space stations very soon: as soon as it went into space, it would be unstoppable. And for the systematic development of the Universe, orbital houses are needed. On April 19, 1971, the Soviet Union launched the Salyut 1 space station, the first in the history of mankind. It was only 15 meters long, and the volume of habitable space was 90 square meters. By today's standards, the pioneers flew into space on unreliable scrap metal stuffed with radio tubes, but then it seemed that there were no more barriers to man in space. Now, 30 years later, only one habitable object hangs above the planet - "International Space Station".

It is the largest, most advanced, but at the same time the most expensive station among all that have ever been launched. Increasingly, questions are being asked - do people need it? Like, what do we need in space, if there are so many problems left on Earth? Perhaps it is worth understanding - what is this ambitious project?

The roar of the spaceport

The International Space Station (ISS) is a joint project of 6 space agencies: the Federal Space Agency (Russia), the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (USA), the Japan Aerospace Research Authority (JAXA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA / ASC), the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the European Space Agency (ESA).

However, not all members of the latter took part in the ISS project - Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Austria and Finland refused this, while Greece and Luxembourg joined later. In fact, the ISS is based on a synthesis of failed projects - the Russian Mir-2 station and the American Svoboda.

Work on the creation of the ISS began in 1993. The Mir station was launched on February 19, 1986 and had a warranty period of 5 years. In fact, she spent 15 years in orbit - due to the fact that the country simply did not have the money to launch the Mir-2 project. The Americans had similar problems - the Cold War ended, and their Svoboda station, which had already spent about 20 billion dollars on one design, was out of work.

Russia had a 25-year practice of working with orbital stations, unique methods of long-term (over a year) human stay in space. In addition, the USSR and the USA had a good experience of working together on board the Mir station. In conditions when no country could independently pull an expensive orbital station, the ISS became the only alternative.

On March 15, 1993, representatives of the Russian Space Agency and the scientific and production association Energia approached NASA with a proposal to create the ISS. On September 2, a corresponding government agreement was signed, and by November 1, a detailed work plan was prepared. Financial issues of interaction (supply of equipment) were resolved in the summer of 1994, and 16 countries joined the project.

What's in your name? The name "ISS" was born in controversy. The first crew of the station, at the suggestion of the Americans, gave it the name "Station Alpha" and used it for some time in communication sessions. Russia did not agree with this option, since “Alpha” in a figurative sense meant “first”, although the Soviet Union had already launched 8 space stations (7 “Salyuts” and “Mir”), and the Americans were experimenting with their “Skylab”. From our side, the name “Atlantis” was proposed, but the Americans rejected it for two reasons - firstly, it was too similar to the name of their shuttle “Atlantis”, and secondly, it was associated with the mythical Atlantis, which, as you know, drowned . It was decided to stop at the phrase "International Space Station" - not too sonorous, but a compromise.

Go!

The deployment of the ISS was launched by Russia on November 20, 1998. The Proton rocket launched the Zarya functional cargo block into orbit, which, along with the American NODE-1 docking module, delivered into space on December 5 of the same year by the Endever shuttle, formed the backbone of the ISS.

"Dawn"- the heir to the Soviet TKS (supply transport ship), designed to serve Almaz combat stations. At the first stage of the ISS assembly, it became a source of electricity, an equipment warehouse, a means of navigation and orbit correction. All other modules of the ISS now have a more specific specialization, while Zarya is practically universal and in the future will serve as a storage facility (food, fuel, instruments).

Officially, Zarya is owned by the United States - they paid for its creation - however, in fact, the module was assembled from 1994 to 1998 at the Khrunichev State Space Center. It was included in the ISS instead of the Bus-1 module, designed by the American corporation Lockheed, since it cost $450 million compared to $220 million for Zarya.

Zarya has three docking airlocks - one at each end and one on the side. Its solar panels are 10.67 meters long and 3.35 meters wide. In addition, the module has six nickel-cadmium batteries capable of delivering about 3 kilowatts of power (at first, there were problems with charging them).

Along the outer perimeter of the module there are 16 fuel tanks with a total volume of 6 cubic meters (5700 kilograms of fuel), 24 large rotary jet engines, 12 small ones, as well as 2 main engines for serious orbital maneuvers. Zarya is capable of autonomous (unmanned) flight for 6 months, but due to delays with the Russian service module Zvezda, it had to fly empty for 2 years.

Unity module(created by the Boeing Corporation) went into space after the Zarya in December 1998. Being equipped with six docking locks, it became the central connecting node for the subsequent modules of the station. Unity is vital to the ISS. The working resources of all station modules - oxygen, water and electricity - pass through it. The Unity also has a basic radio communications system installed to allow Zarya's communication capabilities to communicate with the Earth.

Service module “Zvezda”- the main Russian segment of the ISS - was launched on July 12, 2000 and docked with Zarya 2 weeks later. Its frame was built back in the 1980s for the Mir-2 project (the design of the Zvezda is very reminiscent of the first Salyut stations, and its design features are of the Mir station).

Simply put, this module is housing for astronauts. It is equipped with life support systems, communications, control, data processing, as well as a propulsion system. The total mass of the module is 19050 kilograms, the length is 13.1 meters, the span of the solar panels is 29.72 meters.

Zvezda has two beds, an exercise bike, a treadmill, a toilet (and other hygienic facilities), and a refrigerator. External view is provided by 14 windows. The Russian electrolytic system "Electron" decomposes waste water. Hydrogen is taken overboard, and oxygen enters the life support system. Paired with Electron, the Air system works, absorbing carbon dioxide.

Theoretically, waste water can be cleaned and reused, but this is rarely practiced on the ISS - fresh water is delivered on board by cargo Progress. It must be said that the Electron system malfunctioned several times and the cosmonauts had to use chemical generators - the same “oxygen candles” that once caused a fire at the Mir station.

In February 2001, a laboratory module was attached to the ISS (to one of the Unity gateways). "Destiny"(“Destiny”) - an aluminum cylinder weighing 14.5 tons, 8.5 meters long and 4.3 meters in diameter. It is equipped with five mounting racks with life support systems (each weighs 540 kilograms and can produce electricity, cool water and control the composition of the air), as well as six racks of scientific equipment delivered a little later. The remaining 12 empty slots will be occupied over time.

In May 2001, the Quest Joint Airlock, the main airlock compartment of the ISS, was attached to Unity. This six-ton ​​cylinder, measuring 5.5 by 4 meters, is equipped with four high-pressure cylinders (2 - oxygen, 2 - nitrogen) to compensate for the loss of air released to the outside, and is relatively inexpensive - only 164 million dollars.

Its working space of 34 cubic meters is used for spacewalks, and the dimensions of the airlock allow the use of spacesuits of any type. The fact is that the design of our "Orlans" involves their use only in Russian transfer compartments, a similar situation with American EMUs.

In this module, astronauts going into space can also rest and breathe pure oxygen to get rid of decompression sickness (with a sharp change in pressure, nitrogen, the amount of which in the tissues of our bodies reaches 1 liter, goes into a gaseous state).

The last of the assembled ISS modules is the Russian Pirs docking compartment (SO-1). The creation of SO-2 was discontinued due to funding problems, so the ISS now has only one module, to which the Soyuz-TMA and Progress spacecraft can be easily docked - and three of them at once. In addition, cosmonauts dressed in our spacesuits can go outside from it.

And, finally, one more module of the ISS cannot be mentioned - the baggage multi-purpose support module. Strictly speaking, there are three of them - "Leonardo", "Raffaello" and "Donatello" (artists of the Renaissance, as well as three of the four ninja turtles). Each module is an almost equilateral cylinder (4.4 by 4.57 meters) transported on shuttles.

It can store up to 9 tons of cargo (tare weight - 4082 kilograms, with a maximum load - 13154 kilograms) - supplies delivered to the ISS, and waste taken away from it. All of the module's baggage is in normal air, so astronauts can get to it without using space suits. The baggage modules were manufactured in Italy by order of NASA and belong to the American segments of the ISS. They are used in sequence.

Useful little things

In addition to the main modules, the ISS has a large amount of additional equipment. It is inferior in size to the modules, but without it, the operation of the station is impossible.

The working “arms”, or rather, the “hand” of the station, is the “Canadarm2” manipulator, mounted on the ISS in April 2001. This high-tech machine worth 600 million dollars is capable of moving objects weighing up to 116 tons - for example, helping to assemble modules, docking and unloading shuttles (their own “hands” are very similar to “Canadarm2”, only smaller and weaker).

Own length of the manipulator - 17.6 meters, diameter - 35 centimeters. It is controlled by astronauts from the laboratory module. The most interesting thing is that "Canadarm2" is not fixed in one place and is able to move around the surface of the station, providing access to most of its parts.

Unfortunately, due to differences in connection ports located on the surface of the station, “Canadarm2” cannot move around our modules. In the near future (presumably 2007), it is planned to install ERA (European Robotic Arm) on the Russian segment of the ISS - a shorter and weaker, but more accurate manipulator (positioning accuracy - 3 millimeters), capable of operating in semi-automatic mode without constant control of astronauts.

In accordance with the safety requirements of the ISS project, a rescue ship is constantly on duty at the station, capable of delivering the crew to Earth if necessary. Now this function is performed by the good old Soyuz (TMA model) - it is able to take on board 3 people and provide them with life support for 3.2 days. "Unions" have a short warranty period in orbit, so they are changed every 6 months.

The workhorses of the ISS are currently the Russian Progresses, the brothers of the Soyuz, operating in unmanned mode. During the day, an astronaut consumes about 30 kilograms of cargo (food, water, hygiene products, etc.). Consequently, for a regular six-month duty at the station, one person needs 5.4 tons of supplies. It is impossible to carry so much on the Soyuz, so the station is mainly supplied by shuttles (up to 28 tons of cargo).

After the termination of their flights, from February 1, 2003 to July 26, 2005, the entire load on the station's clothing support lay on Progress (2.5 tons of load). After unloading the ship, it was filled with waste, undocked automatically and burned up in the atmosphere somewhere over the Pacific Ocean.

Crew: 2 people (as of July 2005), maximum - 3

Orbit height: From 347.9 km to 354.1 km

Orbital inclination: 51.64 degrees

Daily revolutions around the Earth: 15.73

Distance covered: About 1.5 billion kilometers

Average speed: 7.69 km/s

Current weight: 183.3 tons

Fuel weight: 3.9 tons

Living space: 425 square meters

Average temperature on board: 26.9 degrees Celsius

Estimated Completion: 2010

Planned life: 15 years

The complete assembly of the ISS will require 39 shuttle flights and 30 Progress flights. In finished form, the station will look like this: airspace volume - 1200 cubic meters, weight - 419 tons, power-to-weight ratio - 110 kilowatts, total length of the structure - 108.4 meters (74 meters in modules), crew - 6 people.

At the crossroads

Until 2003, the construction of the ISS went on as usual. Some modules were canceled, others were delayed, sometimes there were problems with money, faulty equipment - in general, things were going tight, but nevertheless, over the 5 years of its existence, the station became habitable and scientific experiments were periodically conducted on it.

On February 1, 2003, the space shuttle Columbia was lost while entering the dense layers of the atmosphere. The American manned flight program was suspended for 2.5 years. Given that the station modules waiting for their turn could only be launched into orbit by shuttles, the very existence of the ISS was in jeopardy.

Fortunately, the United States and Russia were able to agree on a redistribution of costs. We took over the provision of the ISS with cargo, and the station itself was transferred to the standby mode - two cosmonauts were constantly on board to monitor the serviceability of the equipment.

Shuttle launches

After the successful flight of the Discovery shuttle in July-August 2005, there was hope that the construction of the station would continue. First in line for launch is Unity's connector module twin, Node 2. The preliminary date of its launch is December 2006.

The European Science Module Columbus will be the second, scheduled for launch in March 2007. This lab is ready and waiting in the wings to be attached to Node 2. It boasts good anti-meteorite protection, a unique device for the study of fluid physics, as well as the European Physiological Module (a comprehensive medical examination right on board the station).

Following the "Columbus" will go Japanese laboratory "Kibo" ("Hope") - its launch is scheduled for September 2007. It is interesting because it has its own mechanical manipulator, as well as a closed "terrace" where you can conduct experiments in open space without actually leaving the ship.

The third connecting module - “Node 3” is to go to the ISS in May 2008. In July 2009 it is planned to launch a unique rotating centrifuge module CAM (Centrifuge Accommodations Module), on board of which artificial gravity will be created in the range from 0.01 to 2 g. It is designed mainly for scientific research - the permanent residence of astronauts in the conditions of gravity, which is so often described by science fiction writers, is not provided.

In March 2009, the ISS will fly "Cupola" ("Dome") - an Italian development, which, as its name implies, is an armored observation dome for visual control over the station's manipulators. For safety, the portholes will be equipped with external shutters to protect against meteorites.

The last module delivered to the ISS by American shuttles will be the Science and Force Platform, a massive block of solar panels on an openwork metal truss. It will provide the station with the energy necessary for the normal functioning of the new modules. It will also feature ERA's mechanical arm.

Launches on Protons

Russian Proton rockets are supposed to carry three large modules to the ISS. So far, only a very approximate flight schedule is known. Thus, in 2007 it is planned to add to the station our spare functional cargo block (FGB-2 - the twin of Zarya), which will be turned into a multifunctional laboratory.

In the same year, the European ERA manipulator arm is to be deployed by Proton. And, finally, in 2009 it will be necessary to put into operation a Russian research module, functionally similar to the American "Destiny".

It is interesting

Space stations are frequent guests in science fiction. The two most famous are “Babylon 5” from the television series of the same name and “Deep Space 9” from the Star Trek series. The textbook look of the space station in SF was created by director Stanley Kubrick. His film 2001: A Space Odyssey (screenplay and book by Arthur C. Clarke) showed a large ring station rotating on its axis and thus creating artificial gravity. The longest human stay on the space station is 437.7 days. The record was set by Valery Polyakov at the Mir station in 1994-1995. The Soviet Salyut stations were originally supposed to bear the name Zarya, but it was left for the next similar project, which, in the end, became the functional cargo block of the ISS. In one of the expeditions to the ISS, a tradition arose to hang three banknotes on the wall of the residential module - 50 rubles, a dollar and a euro. For luck. The first space marriage in the history of mankind was concluded on the ISS - on August 10, 2003, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, while on board the station (she flew over New Zealand), married Ekaterina Dmitrieva (the bride was on Earth, in the USA).

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The ISS is the largest, most expensive and long-term space project in the history of mankind. While the station is not yet completed, its cost can be estimated only approximately - over 100 billion dollars. Criticism of the ISS most often boils down to the fact that this money can be used to carry out hundreds of unmanned scientific expeditions to the planets of the solar system.

There is some truth in such accusations. However, this is a very limited approach. First, it does not take into account the potential profit from the development of new technologies in the creation of each new module of the ISS - and after all, its instruments are really at the forefront of science. Their modifications can be used in everyday life and can bring huge income.

We must not forget that thanks to the ISS program, humanity gets the opportunity to preserve and increase all the precious technologies and skills of manned space flights, which were obtained in the second half of the 20th century at an incredible price. In the “space race” of the USSR and the USA, big money was spent, many people died - all this may be in vain if we stop moving in the same direction.

February 20, 1986 The first module of the Mir station was launched into orbit, which for many years became a symbol of Soviet and then Russian space exploration. For more than ten years it has not existed, but the memory of it will remain in history. And today we will tell you about the most significant facts and events concerning orbital station "Mir".

Orbital station Mir - All-Union shock construction

The traditions of all-Union construction projects of the fifties and seventies, during which the largest and most significant objects of the country were erected, continued in the eighties with the creation of the Mir orbital station. True, it was not low-skilled Komsomol members brought from different parts of the USSR who worked on it, but the best production capacities of the state. In total, about 280 enterprises operating under the auspices of 20 ministries and departments worked on this project.

The Mir station project began to be developed back in 1976. It was supposed to become a fundamentally new man-made space object - a real orbital city where people could live and work for a long time. Moreover, not only astronauts from the countries of the Eastern bloc, but also from the states of the West.

Active work on the construction of the orbital station began in 1979, but in 1984 they were temporarily suspended - all the forces of the space industry of the Soviet Union went to the creation of the Buran shuttle. However, the intervention of senior party officials, who planned to launch the object for the XXVII Congress of the CPSU (February 25 - March 6, 1986), made it possible to complete the work in a short time and launch Mir into orbit on February 20, 1986.

Mir station structure

However, on February 20, 1986, a completely different Mir station, which we knew, appeared in orbit. It was only the base unit, which was eventually joined by several other modules that turned the Mir into a huge orbital complex connecting residential blocks, scientific laboratories and technical facilities, including the module for docking the Russian station with the American space shuttles Shuttle ".

At the end of the nineties, the Mir orbital station consisted of the following elements: the base unit, the modules Kvant-1 (scientific), Kvant-2 (household), Kristall (docking-technological), Spektr (scientific ), "Nature" (scientific), as well as a docking module for American shuttles.

It was planned that the assembly of the Mir station would be completed by 1990. But economic problems in the Soviet Union, and then the collapse of the state, prevented the implementation of these plans, and as a result, the last module was added only in 1996.

Purpose of the Mir orbital station

Orbital station "Mir" is, first of all, a scientific object that allows to conduct unique experiments on it, which are not available on Earth. These are both astrophysical research and the study of our planet itself, the processes taking place on it, in its atmosphere and near space.

An important role at the Mir station was played by experiments related to human behavior under conditions of prolonged stay in weightlessness, as well as in the cramped conditions of a spacecraft. Here they studied the reaction of the human body and psyche to future flights to other planets, and indeed to life in space, the development of which is impossible without this kind of research.

And, of course, the Mir orbital station served as a symbol of the Russian presence in space, the national space program, and, over time, the friendship of cosmonauts from different countries.

Mir is the first international space station

The possibility of attracting cosmonauts from other, including non-Soviet countries, to work on the Mir orbital station was built into the concept of the project from the very beginning. However, these plans were realized only in the nineties, when the Russian space program experienced financial difficulties, and therefore it was decided to invite foreign states to work on the Mir station.

But the first foreign cosmonaut got to the Mir station much earlier - in July 1987. They became the Syrian Mohammed Faris. Later, representatives from Afghanistan, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Japan, Austria, Great Britain, Canada and Slovakia visited the facility. But most of the foreigners on the Mir orbital station were from the United States of America.

In the early 1990s, the United States did not have its own long-term orbital station, and therefore they decided to join the Russian Mir project. The first American to be there was Norman Thagard on March 16, 1995. This happened as part of the Mir-Shuttle program, but the flight itself was carried out on the domestic Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft.

Already in June 1995, five American astronauts flew to the Mir station at once. They got there on the shuttle Atlantis. In total, US representatives have appeared on this Russian space object fifty times (34 different astronauts).

Space records at Mir station

Orbital station "Mir" in itself is a champion. It was originally planned that it would last only five years and be replaced by the Mir-2 facility. But the reduction in funding led to the fact that her term of service stretched for fifteen years. And the time of uninterrupted stay of people on it is estimated at 3642 days - from September 5, 1989 to August 26, 1999, almost ten years (the ISS broke this achievement in 2010).

During this time, the Mir station has become a witness and a "home" for many space records. More than 23 thousand scientific experiments were carried out there. Cosmonaut Valery Polyakov, being on board, spent 438 days continuously in space (from January 8, 1994 to March 22, 1995), which is still a record achievement in history. And a similar record for women was also set there - the American Shannon Lucid in 1996 stayed in outer space for 188 days (already beaten on the ISS).

Another unique event that took place on board the Mir station was the first in history on January 23, 1993. Within its framework, two works by Ukrainian artist Igor Podolyak were presented.

Decommissioning and descent to Earth

Breakdowns and technical problems at the Mir station were recorded from the very beginning of its commissioning. But at the end of the nineties, it became clear that its further functioning would be difficult - the object was morally and technically obsolete. Moreover, at the beginning of the decade, a decision was made to build the International Space Station, in which Russia also took part. And on November 20, 1998, the Russian Federation launched the first element of the ISS - the Zarya module.

In January 2001, the final decision was made on the future flooding of the Mir orbital station, despite the fact that there were options for its possible rescue, including the purchase by Iran. However, on March 23, the Mir was sunk in the Pacific Ocean, in a place called the Spaceship Graveyard - it is there that obsolete objects are sent for eternal residence.

Residents of Australia that day, fearing "surprises" from the station that had long become problematic, jokingly placed sights on their land plots, hinting that a Russian object could fall there. However, the flooding passed without unforeseen circumstances - the Mir went under water approximately in the area where it should have been.

Heritage of the orbital station Mir

Mir became the first orbital station built on a modular principle, when many other elements necessary to perform certain functions can be attached to the base unit. This gave impetus to a new round of space exploration. And even with the future creation, long-term orbital modular stations will still be the basis for the human presence outside the Earth.

The modular principle worked out on the Mir orbital station is now used on the International Space Station. At the moment, it consists of fourteen elements.