Russia's Mir Space Station has been out in orbit for over 14 years. The first part of the space station was launched in 1986. MIR is actually many modules that have been put together like a puzzle to make a whole space station. The Salyut stations of the late 1970s and early 1980s were successful programs from which Mir grew.

The Mir module, the first piece of the station launched in space, is the main part of the station. It is composed of docking ports for the other modules to connect to. There are 5 docking ports on the transfer compartment of the Mir module. There is another docking port on the aft end of the Mir module. The various modules that are attached to the docking ports can be moved around to different configurations.

The Soyuz-TM spacecraft is used to transport crews and cargo to and from the Mir Space Station. The Soyuz can dock on the axial docking port on the transfer compartment.

The Progress-M spacecraft is a cargo and resupply vehicle used to send science equipment and data to and from Mir. It can also be used to conduct experiments either while attached to the complex, or during free-flight. When sent back to Earth, it can also be used to remove waste materials from the Space Station.

Mir Core Module

The Mir complex consists of the original core Mir core module (dimensions 15 x 4.15 m, about 20,000 kg) that was launched in Feb 19, 1986.
Kvant

At the rear axial port of Mir is docked the Kvant astrophysics module (5.8 x 4.15 m, 11,000 kg) which was launched on March 31, 1987. This second module is technically known as Kvant, but is identified in some resources as Kvant 1 so as not to confuse it with the later Kvant 2 module.

The Kvant module houses the Roentgen astrophysics observatory with the Pulsar x-ray telescopes, a gamma ray detector and the Glazar UV telescope. Also mounted on this module is the Sofora mast structure, 14 meters long, with an roll control thruster package at one end. The pitch and yawl attitude of Mir is maintained by gyrodynes.

A rear axial docking port of Kvant is used to accommodate the arrival of either a Progress-M or Soyuz-TM vehicle.

The Progress M re-supply vehicle (7.5 x 2 m, 7,000 kg) is capable of free-flight for extended periods. When a Soyuz docking takes place it is undocked either for a destructive re-entry or maintained in orbit. When the older docked Soyuz returns to Earth with the relieved crew, the Progress may be re-docked until relieved by another Progress vehicle. The Progress M uses solar arrays to charge its power supply system's batteries. While docked to the Mir, its engine can be used to maintain or alter the space station's orbit.

In the early 1990's the Progress vehicle was equipped with a small return capsule called the Reentry Ballistic Capsule (VBK) (mounted to the forward docking hatch) to return material back to earth. In 1995 the use of this capsule seems to have been discontinued with the periodic docking of the Shuttle with resupplies to Mir. The expendable vehicle is loaded with any materials for disposal. The Progress-M separates to normally make a destructive re-entry over the South Pacific.

The Soyuz-TM vehicle (7.5 x 2 m, 7,000 kg) can deliver 2-3 cosmonauts to Mir depending upon what type Soyuz booster is used. It normally takes some 2-3 days to reach the space station and it is capable of remaining docked for up to 200 days prior to returning to Earth.

Forward axial/radial docking port

On the forward end of the Mir core module (opposite the Kvant module) is the forward axial docking port. On this docking port either a Progress or Soyuz vessel is docked. The four radial (side) ports on this forward module capture the four remaining modules on the y and z axis.

Kvant 2

On one of the side ports is docked the Kvant 2 module (12 x 4.4 m, 20,000 kg) which was launched on the November 26, 1989. This carries technical support facilities and such. It also houses the airlock which the Cosmonauts use to access the outside of the Mir complex in extravehicular activities (EVA). The airlock has also served as "home" to the visiting American astronaut as the Spektr module is no longer habitable.

Spektr

On the opposite side port is the Spektr remote sensing module for geophysical sciences (12 x 4.35 m, 19,640 kg). It was launched on May 20, 1995 and arrived at Mir on June 1, 1995. The Spektr module contains a robotic arm system that is used to carry out experiments externally on Mir.

Kristall

On another side port is the Kristall industrial processing module (12 x 4.4 m, 20,000 kg). Launched 31 May 31, 1990, this module is used for semiconductor and biological experiments. It also houses Earth observation instruments.

Attached to the end of Kristall is the Mir/Shuttle docking moduledelivered by Atlantis on mission STS-74 on November 14, 1995.

Priroda

Finally, the Priroda remote sensing module (12 x 4.35 m, 19,700 kg) was launched on April 23, 1996, and resides at the final vacant side port on the "top" side of MIR. This module houses passive and active radiometers (IKAR), a synthetic aperture radar (Travers), an infra-red radiometer (Istok 1), a spectrometer for measuring ozone and aerosol concentrations (Ozon-M), visible and infra-red spectrometers (MOZ-Obzor), optical scanners (MSU-SK, MSU-E) and a device for remote interrogation of geophysical stations (Centaur).