Shuttle–Mir program
The Shuttle–Mir program was a collaborative 11-mission space program between Russia and the United States. It involved American Space Shuttles visiting the Russian space station Mir, Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a Soyuz spacecraft. The program was announced in 1993, the first mission started in 1994 and the project continued until its scheduled completion in 1998. It helped to prepare the way for further cooperative space ventures; specifically, the construction of the International Space Station.
About Shuttle–Mir program in brief
The Shuttle–Mir program was a collaborative 11-mission space program between Russia and the United States. It involved American Space Shuttles visiting the Russian space station Mir, Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to engage in long-duration expeditions aboard Mir. The program was announced in 1993, the first mission started in 1994 and the project continued until its scheduled completion in 1998. The project helped to prepare the way for further cooperative space ventures; specifically, the construction of the International Space Station. During the four-year program, many firsts in spaceflight were achieved by the two nations, including the first American astronaut to launch aboard a soyuz spacecraft, the largest spacecraft ever to have been assembled at that time in history. A large amount of science, expertise in space station construction and knowledge in working in a cooperative space venture was gained from the combined operations, allowing the construction to proceed much more smoothly than would have otherwise been the case. In June 1992, American President George H. W. Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin agreed to co-operate on space exploration. The first Space Shuttle flight to Mir was a rendezvous mission without a docking on ST-63. This was followed during the course of the project by a total of nine shuttle–Mir docking missions, from ST-S71 to ST-71-91. The crews rotated and delivered supplies, and one and one other would board the Mir space station.
In September 1993, Al Gore, Jr. announced plans for a new space station, which eventually became the Internationalspace Station, which became Viktor Viktoryrdin became the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. The construction of Mir-2 as a replacement for the aging Mir became illusionary, though only after its base block, DOS-8, had been built. These developments resulted in bringing the former adversaries together with the Shuttle-Mir Program, which would pave the way to the joint project with several international partners. In the early 1990s, American government officials started negotiations with partners in Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada to begin a collaborative, multi-national, space station project. This agreement called for setting up a, joint space station during which one American astronaut would board Mir and two Russian Cosmonauts would board a short-term shuttle mission. This resulted in the development of the Space Shuttle program in the years ahead, under the code name ‘Shuttle-Mir’ The first Shuttle flight was STS-63, a rendez-vous mission without the docking on Mir without the Shuttle. The mission was followed by a joint Soyuz flight and almost 1000 cumulative days in space for American astronauts. In addition to Space Shuttle launches to Mir the U.S. also fully funded and equipped with scientific equipment the Spektr module and the Priroda module, making them de facto U. S. modules during the duration of the shuttle-Mir program. The first American spacewalk using a Russian Orlan spacesuit.
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