Mir

Mir

Mir module launch dates:

Mir ("peace" and "world") - Orbital Station	20 February 1986
Kvant ("quantum") 1 - Mir astrophysics module	31 March 1987
Kvant 2 - Mir scientific/airlock module	26 November 1989
Kristall - Materials processing laboratory	31 May 1990
Spektr ("spectrum") - Mir technological module	20 May 1995
Priroda ("nature") - Remote Earth sensing	23 April 1996

Mir deorbit into the South Pacific

23 March 2001

The Mir Expeditions:

EO-1	Soyuz-T 15
EO-2	Soyuz-TM 2
EO-3	Soyuz-TM 4
EO-4	Soyuz-TM 7
EO-5	Soyuz-TM 8
EO-6	Soyuz-TM 9
EO-7	Soyuz-TM 10
EO-8	Soyuz-TM 11
EO-9	Soyuz-TM 12
EO-10	Soyuz-TM 13
EO-11	Soyuz-TM 14
EO-12	Soyuz-TM 15
EO-13	Soyuz-TM 16
EO-14	Soyuz-TM 17
EO-15	Soyuz-TM 18
EO-16	Soyuz-TM 19
EO-17	Soyuz-TM 20
EO-18	Soyuz-TM 21
EO-19	STS-71
EO-20	Soyuz-TM 22
EO-21	Soyuz-TM 23
EO-22	Soyuz-TM 24
EO-23	Soyuz-TM 25
EO-24	Soyuz-TM 26
EO-25	Soyuz-TM 27
EO-26	Soyuz-TM 28
EO-27	Soyuz-TM 29
EO-28	Soyuz-TM 30

Notes: Mir has also been visited by Soyuz-TM 3, Soyuz-TM 5, Soyuz-TM 6, STS-63 (did not dock), STS-74, STS-76, STS-79, STS-81, STS-84, STS-86, STS-89, and STS-91, but these have not been assigned Mir Expedition designations.
The designations EO- are sometimes reported as Mir-. In other words, EO-26 and Mir-26 are different ways of saying the same thing.
Due to lack of funding, Mir was abandoned when EO-27 (Soyuz-TM 29) departed on 28 Aug 1999. The orbit of Mir began to decay, but a resupply mission on 3 Feb 2000 boosted it 40 to 60 km further into space.
EO-28 (Soyuz-TM 30) was the first and only privately funded mission. Supposedly, private funding was found to send another mission in 2001. However, the failure to meet commitments by the US/European MirCorp ended plans for Mir to again be continuously occupied for 3 years beginning in 2001.
During it's life, Mir survived a fire and a collision with a Progress vessel which left the Spektr module leaking air and unusable. Even these near disasters and numerous problems due to the age of Mir was not enough to deter the Russians. The Soviet/Russian space program proved to be resilient and resourceful. Ultimately, the cost of upkeep was more than the Russian economy could handle, in light of their commitments to the International Space Station.
After twice experiencing power failures in late December 2000, a decision was made to deorbit Mir. There was much concern that Mir, which was 15 years old 20 February 2001, would plunge back to Earth uncontrolled. Russia, however, was able to successfully deorbit the aging Mir and dump it harmlessly into the open waters of the Pacific far east of New Zealand.

Credit - NASA

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