Mir Space Station

Mir

Mir seen from Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-89 (9 February 1998)
Mir insignia
Station statistics
COSPAR ID	1986-017A
Call sign	Mir
Crew	3
Launch	20 February 1986 – 23 April 1996
Launch pad	LC-200/39, and LC-81/23, Baikonur Cosmodrome LC-39A Kennedy Space Center
Reentry	23 March 2001 05:59 UTC
Mass	129,700 kg (285,940 lb)
Length	19 m (62.3 ft) from core module to Kvant-1
Width	31 m (101.7 ft) from Priroda to docking module
Height	27.5 m (90.2 ft) from Kvant-2 to Spektr
Pressurised volume	350 m³
Atmospheric pressure	c.101.3 kPa (29.91 inHg, 1 atm)
Perigee	354 km (189 nmi) AMSL ${\displaystyle {\bar {x}}\!\,}$
Apogee	374 km (216 nmi) AMSL ${\displaystyle {\bar {x}}\!\,}$
Orbital inclination	51.6 degrees
Orbital speed	7.7 km/s (27,700 km/h, 17,200 mph)
Orbital period	91.9 minutes ${\displaystyle {\bar {x}}\!\,}$
Orbits per day	15.7 ${\displaystyle {\bar {x}}\!\,}$
Days in orbit	5,510 days (7008476064000000000♠15 years and 31 days)
Days occupied	4,592 days
Number of orbits	86,331
Statistics as of 23 March 2001 (unless noted otherwise) References:
Configuration
Station elements as of May 1996

Mir (Russian: Мир, IPA: [ˈmʲir]; lit. peace or world) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, run by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. Mir was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. It had a greater mass than any previous spacecraft. At the time it was the largest artificial satellite in orbit, succeeded by the International Space Station after Mir's orbit decayed. The station served as a microgravity research laboratory in which crews conducted experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and spacecraft systems with a goal of developing technologies required for permanent occupation of space.

Mir was the first continuously inhabited long-term research station in orbit and held the record for the longest continuous human presence in space at 3,644 days, until it was surpassed by the ISS on 23 October 2010. It holds the record for the longest single human spaceflight, with Valeri Polyakov spending 437 days and 18 hours on the station between 1994 and 1995. Mir was occupied for a total of twelve and a half years out of its fifteen-year lifespan, having the capacity to support a resident crew of three, or larger crews for short visits.