Editing Mir (section)

==Origins==
''Mir'' was authorised by a 17 February 1976 decree, to design an improved model of the [[Salyut program|Salyut]] DOS-17K space stations. Four Salyut space stations had been launched since 1971, with three more being launched during ''Mir'''s development. It was planned that the station's core module ([[Mir Core Module|DOS-7]] and the backup [[Zvezda (ISS module)|DOS-8]]) would be equipped with a total of four docking ports; two at either end of the station as with the Salyut stations, and an additional two ports on either side of a docking sphere at the front of the station to enable further modules to expand the station's capabilities. By August 1978, this had evolved to the final configuration of one aft port and five ports in a spherical compartment at the forward end of the station.<ref name="Encyclopedia Astronautica"/>{{failed verification|date=February 2021}}{{unreliable source?|date=February 2021}}

It was originally planned that the ports would connect to {{convert|7.5|t|ST|adj=on}} modules derived from the [[Soyuz spacecraft]]. These modules would have used a Soyuz propulsion module, as in Soyuz and [[Progress spacecraft|Progress]], and the descent and orbital modules would have been replaced with a long laboratory module.<ref name="Encyclopedia Astronautica"/> Following a February 1979 governmental resolution, the programme was consolidated with [[Vladimir Chelomei]]'s crewed [[Almaz]] military space station programme. The docking ports were reinforced to accommodate {{convert|20|t|ST|adj=on}} space station modules based on the [[TKS spacecraft]]. [[S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia|NPO Energia]] was responsible for the overall space station, with work subcontracted to [[Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center|KB Salyut]], due to ongoing work on the [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]] [[launch vehicle|rocket]] and [[Salyut 7]], [[Soyuz spacecraft#Third generation|Soyuz-T]], and [[Progress spacecraft]]. KB Salyut began work in 1979, and drawings were released in 1982 and 1983. New systems incorporated into the station included the Salyut 5B digital flight control computer and gyrodyne flywheels (taken from Almaz), [[Kurs (docking system)|Kurs automatic rendezvous system]], [[Luch (satellite)|''Luch'' satellite]] communications system, [[Elektron (ISS)|Elektron]] oxygen generators, and [[ISS ECLSS#Vozdukh|Vozdukh]] [[Rebreather#Carbon dioxide scrubber|carbon dioxide scrubbers]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Astronautica"/>{{failed verification|date=February 2021}}{{unreliable source?|date=February 2021}}

By early 1984, work on ''Mir'' had halted while all resources were being put into the [[Buran programme]] in order to prepare the [[Buran (spacecraft)|''Buran'' spacecraft]] for flight testing. Funding resumed in early 1984 when [[Valentin Glushko]] was ordered by the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]]'s Secretary for Space and Defence to orbit ''Mir'' by early 1986, in time for the [[27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|27th Communist Party Congress]].<ref name="Encyclopedia Astronautica"/>{{failed verification|date=February 2021}}{{unreliable source?|date=February 2021}}

It was clear that the planned processing flow could not be followed and still meet the 1986 launch date. It was decided on [[Cosmonautics Day|Cosmonaut's Day]] (12 April) 1985 to ship the flight model of the [[Mir Core Module|base block]] to the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] and conduct the systems testing and integration there. The module arrived at the launch site on 6 May, with 1100 of 2500 cables requiring rework based on the results of tests to the ground test model at [[Khrunichev]]. In October, the base block was rolled outside its [[cleanroom]] to carry out communications tests. The first launch attempt on 16 February 1986 was scrubbed when the spacecraft communications failed, but the second launch attempt, on 19 February 1986 at 21:28:23 UTC, was successful, meeting the political deadline.<ref name="Encyclopedia Astronautica"/>{{failed verification|date=February 2021}}{{unreliable source?|date=February 2021}}