The Mir space station has unquestionably been one of the most significant contributions to the Soviet/Russian space programme. The experience of long-duration human space flight gained from its continued operation was justifiably considered vital to the International Space Station and to future interplanetary exploration. Near the end of its operational life, Mir was much in the news as dangerous fires and other mishaps threatened the life its the astronauts, yet Mir was also a legendary workhorse on the road to long-term space colonization. This book reviews the origins of the Soviet space station programme, in particular the highly successful Salyuts 6 and 7, describes Mir's structure, environment, power supply and manoeuvring systems, and provides a comprehensive account of how it was assembled and how it operated in orbit. This book is essential for anyone who is interested in the history of humans in space or who is looking for lessons to apply to the ISS.

Details how a succession of Salyut space stations led to the development of Mir Depicts Mir's assembly piece by piece, in space, between 1982 and 1996 Describes how Mir became an international research laboratory Advises how Mir technology went on to form the 'core modules' of the ISS The definitive account of Mir throughout its life through to de-orbiting in March 2001

Autorentext
Paolo Ulivi was born in Florence, Italy and graduated from the Politecnico di Milano University with a thesis on robotics for Mars sample return missions. He works as a consultant in aerospace structures in Toulouse, France. In his free time, he researches the history of astronautics, astronomy, aeronautics and the Cold War. He is also an amateur astronomer and specializes in Solar System observations. David Harland studied astronomy to degree level, and pursued a career lecturing in computer science, and academic and industrial research. In 1995, David "retired" to resume his interest in spaec and started to write. He has over two dozen books published to date, a majority of them with Springer/Praxis and several others under contract. These days he considers himself to be an amateur hermit and a professional space historian.

Inhalt
Getting started.- Routine operations.- A step towards continuous occupancy.- A base block for modular construction.- An astrophysical laboratory.- A microgravity laboratory for hire.- Expansion or abandonment?.- Shuttle-Mir.- The final chapter.- In retrospect.