February 20 1986 – The Soviet Union launches the Mir space station

On February 20, 1986, the erstwhile Soviet Republic launched the base module of the modular space station, Mir. Later, over the next ten years, additional modules were sent to be integrated with this core, using a number of space vehicles. The space station operated for almost 15 years between 1986 and 2001, in low earth orbit. Mir was the largest artificial satellite of the earth till it was deorbited and the position was taken over by the International Space Station(ISS). It was a comprehensive space laboratory so long as it was in orbit. Mir’s launch was a path breaking event in the history of space research. Mir allowed for a continued existence of astronauts in space and made space flights a regular occurrence in the US and in the USSR/Russia. The Soviet Union authorized the construction of Mir (named after a peaceful peasant community in Russia), a third generation space station, on February 17, 1976; it was built as an improvised version of the earlier space station, the Salyut DOS-17K, but the design allowed for expansion of the base module with the addition of others that would be sent into space. By the time Mir had been launched 7 Salyut space stations had been launched but Mir had a life expectancy of five years – far beyond that expected of any space station at the time; Mir remained in orbit and functional for three times its expected life. Initially planned with four docking ports, Mir’s eventual design accommodated a total of six ports. Three years into planning and preparation, the Mir program was made part of the Almaz military space station program but work was halted for a few months as finances and resources were redirected to the Buran program in 1984. Later that year, Mir again resumed priority in the USSR and work resumed at a frantic pace. Mir’s base module was launched on February 20, 1986, boosted into space by a Soviet Proton launcher. The core was constructed in the form of a stepped cylinder measuring about 43 feet in length and about 14 feet in diameter (at the widest point). After the launch of the core module, astronauts Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov were sent out to space on March 13, 1986, aboard a Soyuz T spacecraft to go aboard the space station. Between March 1987 and April 1996, five other modules were sent to add and expand the space station. The core unit was joined by Kvant 1 (1987), Kvant 2 (1989), Kristall (1990), Spektr (1995), and Priroda (1996). On March 23, 2001, at about 9 am Moscow time, Mir made a very controlled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere after over 86,000 orbits. While many countries anticipated a crash and consequent damages, the 134-ton structure collapsed over the southern Pacific Ocean. Japan had anticipated to be affected by the crash but was instead rewarded with the spectacular sight of a golden white blaze as the remnants of Mir hit the ocean. For over 15 years, Mir remained the symbol of the incredible advances of mankind in terms of space technology. For almost 15 years the launch, assembly, and maintenance of Mir led to a peaceful and successful cooperation between the US and the USSR/Russia after years of the Cold War. The Russian doctor Valeri Polyakov set a record by living aboard Mir continuously for 437 days, 17 hours and 38 minutes. Along with an earlier Mir expedition his total stay lasted about 678 days, 16 hours and 33 minutes on the Mir. This record was later broken by Sergei Avdeyev in 1999 who recorded a total of 747 days, 14 hours and 12 minutes in three separate missions. Polyakov’s long stay fueled a study of the various changes in human physiology in outer space by the Institute of Biomedical Problems. In 1996, aboard Shuttle-Mir, Shannon Lucid set a new space endurance record for women having spent 188 days and 4 hours in orbit. By the time it was deorbited, Mir had hosted almost 100 astronauts from 12 different nations of the world. You may also like : February 20 1919 – Amir of Afghanistan Habibullah Khan is Assassinated February 20, 1986 – Mir Launched