![]() ![]() The array consisted of 42 US-built panels arranged in a 2.7 m (9 ft) wide and 18 m (59 ft) long array mounted to a Russian-built frame, and was instrumented to provide data for models being used to design the solar arrays for the ISS. The array was 42 m² in area, and provided 6.7 kW of power when installed on the station during expedition EO-21 in 1996. The first, the Mir Cooperative Solar Array, was jointly designed by NASA and Russia in order to test designs for the future International Space Station. In addition to simplifying space shuttle docking missions, Mir's docking module was also used as a carrier for two new photovoltaic arrays, mounted to the module in boxes, which were later deployed on Kvant-1 during spacewalks. Main article: Mir Environmental Effects Payload The module resembles the pressure hull for the cancelled Science Power Platform intended for Mir-2 and the International Space Station, the test article for which was turned into the Rassvet Mini-Research Module 1 and launched in 2010 aboard Atlantis, on mission STS-132. The module was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on 12 November 1995 on mission STS-74 and both the module and Atlantis docked to Mir on 15 November, leaving STS-71 as the only Shuttle- Mir docking mission requiring Kristall to be relocated. Development of the simplified module was given priority over the more complex Mir-2 type SO-1, and the flight model, the first to make use of NASA's new Space Station Processing Facility, was delivered to Kennedy Space Center on 7 June 1995 alongside the new solar arrays which were to be launched with it. Rather than being covered in a newly-manufactured white thermal blanket, the module was flown with an unusual orange blanket, which was selected from pre-existing stock for financial reasons. Mounting points were also provided for two boxes (containing new solar arrays) and other external experiments, and the module was provided with its own thermal control, television transmission, and telemetry systems. An APAS-89 docking port was mounted on each end. The module consisted of what were essentially two Soyuz TM-16 type Soyuz orbital modules cut in half, with a cylindrical central portion mounted in the center of the two halves which incorporated docking apparatus (the other two halves were not used). ĭiscussions on providing a docking module for the Shuttle- Mir programme began in May 1993 and approval was granted on 1 November, with the draft plan being developed by December. Adding a small extension to Kristall, however, would provide the shuttles the clearance they needed to dock without necessitating the relocation of the module on each occasion, and it was decided to base the design of the new module loosely on that of the Mir-2 docking compartment. When the Shuttle- Mir programme began, engineers realised that in order to enable US space shuttles to dock to Mir, the Kristall module would have to be relocated to the forward port of the core module and back to its own lateral port each time a shuttle docked, a process which was not only time consuming but would also be entirely reliant on Kristall's Lyappa arm, which, should it fail, would prevent any further shuttle missions to the station. The docking module originated in the 1992 design version of the cancelled Mir-2 space station, which featured a combined docking compartment and airlock to facilitate docking missions during the Soviet Buran space shuttle programme (this module, SO-1, was eventually incorporated into the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station as Pirs). Interior of Docking Module Docking Module cutaway Interior view of Rassvet, compared to the Mir Docking Module above Rassvet is a mirror image of the Mir Docking Module Development The final configuration of Mir, showing the docking module (brown) with a docked Space Shuttle. ![]() The module was also used to transport two new photovoltaic arrays to the station, as a mounting point for external experiments, and as a storage module when not in use for dockings. The module, built by RKK Energia, was designed to help simplify space shuttle dockings to Mir during the Shuttle- Mir programme, preventing the need for the periodic relocation of the Kristall module necessary for dockings prior to the compartment's arrival. The Stykovochnyy Otsek ( Russian: стыковочный отсек, English: Docking compartment), GRAU index 316GK, otherwise known as the Mir Docking Module or SO, was the sixth module of the Russian space station Mir, launched in November 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Various additional external fixtures are not shown. The docking module shown isolated in its basic configuration. ![]()
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