On February 20, 1986, the Proton booster launched the core module the space station called Mir, which can be translated as "peace" or "world." The official Soviet news reports, released immediately after the launch, said that the spacecraft is equipped with six docking ports and it will serve as a core of the future multi-modular orbital station.

Although the core module, known in the industry by its production designation, 17KS, closely resembled two previous Soviet space stations -- Salyut-6 and Salyut-7 it was a major departure from the latter. Since most of the payload of the future station was expected to be placed on board "add-on" modules, the core itself was free from a huge instrument section filling most of the volume inside two previous orbital labs. Free space on Mir's core was used to fit two tiny but comfortable crewmember cabins, each featuring a window!

The Soviet sources reported that number of onboard computers was increased from one onboard Salyut-7 to seven on Mir.

The Mir's launch also marked the new approach to the informational policy in space. The launch of the first crew onboard Mir was announced in advance, the first case in the Soviet spaceflight, which did not involve foreign cosmonauts.

Two months after the core was launched, Konstantin Feoktistov, the veteran of the Soviet space program gave many hints about the new station's design in the interview to Izvestia. (88) In particular, Feoktistov said that in the future during further deployment of the station, there would be a possibility to employ new systems, which would considerably save onboard propellant. Obviously, he meant onboard gyrodines, which would arrive in the following years onboard Kvant-1 and Kvant-2 modules.

Feoktistov also hinted that the core module could be equipped with additional solar panels and that more effective life-support systems are installed onboard. Wet towels, the main personal hygiene method on the previous stations was expected to be replaced with a special sink equipped with a system to pump in and remove water.

Finally, the Soviet sources disclosed that Cosmos-1700 satellite, a.k.a. Luch (Beam), launched ahead of the core module, would be used to relay communications from Mir to the ground control stations. Reportedly, during each orbit the station had a 40-minute window, during which a special antenna installed on the tail section of the core module could "see" the relay sat.

PICTURE GALLERY

Copyright © 2001 by Anatoly Zak

The flight version of the core module (17KS) of the Mir space station goes through final checks in Area 2B (MIK-2B) in Baikonur.

A full-scale mockup of the Mir space station used for cosmonaut training in Star City. Module Kvant-1 is on the foreground, the core module is immediately behind. Kvant-2 is on the background.

A close-up view of the Mir core module's mockup with a relay antenna.

A close-up view of the docking section on the Mir core module docked with the module based on the TKS spacecraft.