Editing Shuttle–Mir program (section)

==Background==
[[File:Salyut docked with shuttle.svg|thumb|A "Shuttle–''Salyut''" program was proposed in the 1970s, yet never realized. This rendering depicts a Space Shuttle docked to a [[Salyut programme#Second generation – long-duration inhabitation of space|second-generation ''Salyut'' space station]], with a [[Soyuz spacecraft]] docked to ''Salyut''{{'s}} aft port.]]

The origins of the Shuttle–''Mir'' program can be traced back to the 1975 [[Apollo–Soyuz Test Project]], that resulted in a joint US/Soviet mission during the [[détente]] period of the [[Cold War]] and the docking between a US Apollo spacecraft and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. This was followed by the talks between [[NASA]] and [[Intercosmos]] in the 1970s about a "Shuttle–''Salyut''" program to fly [[Space Shuttle]] missions to a [[Salyut programme|''Salyut'' space station]], with later talks in the 1980s even considering flights of the future Soviet shuttles from the [[Buran programme]] to a future US space station – this "Shuttle–''Salyut''" program never materialized however during the existence of the Soviet Intercosmos program.<ref name=MIRheritage>[[s:Mir Hardware Heritage/Part 2 - Almaz, Salyut, and Mir#2.1.6 Shuttle-Salyut (1973-1978; 1980s)]]</ref>

This changed after the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union]]: the end of Cold War and [[Space Race]] resulted in funding for the US modular space station (originally named [[Space Station Freedom|''Freedom'']]), which was planned since the early 1980s, being slashed.<ref name="SSSM">{{cite book |author= David Harland |title= The Story of Space Station Mir |publisher= Springer-Verlag New York Inc |date= November 30, 2004 |location= New York |url= https://archive.org/details/storyofspacestat0000harl |isbn= 978-0-387-23011-5 |url-access= registration }}</ref>
Similar budgetary difficulties were being faced by other nations with space station projects, prompting American government officials to start negotiations with partners in Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada in the early 1990s to begin a collaborative, multi-national, space station project.<ref name="SSSM"/>
In the [[Russia|Russian Federation]], as the successor to much of the [[Soviet Union]] and its space program, the deteriorating economic situation in the [[History of post-Soviet Russia|post-Soviet economic chaos]] led to growing financial problems of the now Russian space station program. The construction of the [[Mir-2]] space station as a replacement for the aging ''Mir'' became illusionary, though only after its base block, DOS-8, had been built.<ref name="SSSM"/> These developments resulted in bringing the former adversaries together with the Shuttle–''Mir'' Program, which would pave the way to the [[International Space Station]], a joint project with several international partners.<ref name="spacecom-20160222">{{cite news |last1=Al-Khatib |first1=Talal |title=30 Years Later: The Legacy of the Mir Space Station |url=https://www.space.com/31999-mir-space-station-30th-anniversary.html |access-date=23 May 2023 |work=Space.com |date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230516110009/https://www.space.com/31999-mir-space-station-30th-anniversary.html |archive-date=16 May 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Atlantis docked to MIR - GPN-2000-001315.jpg|thumb|left|[[Space Shuttle]] [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|''Atlantis'']] docked to ''Mir'' on [[STS-71]]|alt=A cluster of cylindrical modules with projecting feathery solar arrays and a spaceplane docked to the lower module. In the background is the blackness of space, and in the lower right corner is Earth.]]
In June 1992, [[President of the United States|American President]] [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[President of Russia|Russian president]] [[Boris Yeltsin]] agreed to co-operate on [[space exploration]] by signing the ''Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Concerning Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes''. This agreement called for setting up a short, joint space project, during which one American [[astronaut]] would board the Russian space station ''Mir'' and two Russian [[Astronaut#Russian|cosmonauts]] would board a Space Shuttle.<ref name="SSSM"/>

In September 1993, American [[Vice-President of the United States|Vice-President]] [[Al Gore Jr.]], and Russian Prime Minister [[Viktor Chernomyrdin]] announced plans for a new space station, which eventually became the International Space Station.<ref name="gao">{{cite web |url= http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat3/151975.pdf |title= ''Space Station: Impact of the Expanded Russian Role on Funding and Research'' |access-date= November 3, 2006 |author= Donna Heivilin |date= June 21, 1994 |publisher= [[Government Accountability Office]] |archive-date= July 21, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110721083656/http://archive.gao.gov/t2pbat3/151975.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> They also agreed, in preparation for this new project, that the United States would be heavily involved in the ''Mir'' project in the years ahead, under the code name "Phase One" (the construction of the ISS being "Phase Two").<ref>{{cite web |title= Shuttle–Mir History/Background/How "Phase 1" Started |publisher= NASA |date=April 4, 2004 |author= Kim Dismukes |url= http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/history/h-b-start.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20011116155733/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/history/h-b-start.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 16, 2001 |access-date= April 12, 2007}}</ref>

The first Space Shuttle flight to ''Mir'' was a rendezvous mission without docking on [[STS-63]]. This was followed during the course of the project by nine Shuttle–''Mir'' docking missions, from [[STS-71]] to [[STS-91]]. The Shuttle rotated crews and delivered supplies, and one mission, [[STS-74]], carried a docking module and a pair of solar arrays to ''Mir''. Various scientific experiments were also conducted, both on shuttle flights and long-term aboard the station. The project also saw the launch of two new modules, ''[[Spektr]]'' and ''[[Priroda]]'', to ''Mir'', which were used by American astronauts as living quarters and laboratories to conduct the majority of their science aboard the station. These missions allowed NASA and  Roscosmos to learn a great deal about how best to work with international partners in space and how to minimize the risks associated with assembling a large space station in orbit, as would have to be done with the ISS.<ref>{{cite web |title= Shuttle–Mir History/Welcome/Goals |publisher= NASA |url= http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/welcome/w-g-goals.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20011113225550/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/welcome/w-g-goals.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 13, 2001 |date= April 4, 2004 |author= Kim Dismukes |access-date= April 12, 2007}}</ref><ref name="JointReport">{{cite report|author= George C. Nield |author2= Pavel Mikhailovich Vorobiev |name-list-style=amp |title= Phase One Program Joint Report |publisher= NASA |date= January 1999 |url= http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/references/documents/phase1-joint-report.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20041117163319/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/references/documents/phase1-joint-report.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2004-11-17 |access-date= March 30, 2007}}</ref>

The project also served as a political ruse on the part of the American government, providing a diplomatic channel for NASA to take part in the funding of the cripplingly under-funded Russian space program. This in turn allowed the newly fledged [[Politics of Russia|Russian government]] to keep ''Mir'' operating, in addition to the Russian space program as a whole, ensuring the Russian government remained friendly towards the United States.<ref name="Dragonfly"/><ref name="OffPlanet"/>

===Increments===
[[Image:Shuttle-Mir Astronauts.jpg|thumb|The seven American astronauts who carried out long-duration Increments on ''Mir''|alt=A portrait of six men and one woman, arranged in two rows, four sitting at the front and three standing at the back. They are each wearing tan trousers and a blue polo shirt with a patch and their name on it, and the US and NASA flags are visible in the background.]]
In addition to the flights of the Shuttle to ''Mir'', Phase One also featured seven "Increments" aboard the station, long-duration flights aboard ''Mir'' by American astronauts. The seven astronauts who took part in the Increments, [[Norman Thagard]], [[Shannon Lucid]], [[John Blaha]], [[Jerry Linenger]], [[Michael Foale]], [[David Wolf (astronaut)|David Wolf]] and [[Andy Thomas|Andrew Thomas]], were each flown in turn to [[Star City, Russia|Star City]], [[Russia]], to undergo training in various aspects of the operation of ''Mir'' and the [[Soyuz spacecraft]] used for transport to and from the Station. The astronauts also received practice in carrying out [[spacewalks]] outside ''Mir'' and lessons in the [[Russian language]], which would be used throughout their missions to talk with the other cosmonauts aboard the station and Mission Control in Russia, the [[Mission Control Center#RKA Mission Control Center|TsUP]].<ref name="OffPlanet"/>

During their expeditions aboard ''Mir'', the astronauts carried out various experiments, including growth of crops and crystals, and took hundreds of photographs of the [[Earth]]. They also assisted in the maintenance and repair of the aging station, following various incidents with fires, collisions, power losses, uncontrolled spins and toxic leaks. In all, the American astronauts would spend almost a thousand days aboard ''Mir'', allowing NASA to learn a great deal about long-duration spaceflight, particularly in the areas of astronaut psychology and how best to arrange experiment schedules for crews aboard space stations.<ref name="Dragonfly">{{cite book|author=Bryan Burrough|date=January 7, 1998|title = Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir|place=London, UK|publisher = Fourth Estate Ltd.|isbn=978-1-84115-087-1|id= {{ASIN|1841150878|country=uk}}}}</ref><ref name="OffPlanet">{{cite book|last=Linenger|first=Jerry|author-link = Jerry Linenger|date=January 1, 2001|title=Off the Planet: Surviving Five Perilous Months Aboard the Space Station Mir|url=https://archive.org/details/offplanetsurvivi00line|url-access=registration|place=New York, USA|publisher=McGraw-Hill|isbn=978-0-07-137230-5|id= {{ASIN|007137230X|country=uk}}}}</ref>

===''Mir''===
{{Main|Mir}}
[[Image:Mir on 12 June 1998edit1.jpg|left|thumb|The view of ''Mir'' from [[Space Shuttle Discovery|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'']] in 1998 as it left the station during [[STS-91]]|alt=A cluster of cylindrical modules with projecting feathery solar arrays, with Earth's horizon visible in the background.]]
''Mir'' was constructed between 1986 and 1996 and was the world's first modular space station. It was the first consistently inhabited long-term [[research station]] in space, and previously held the record for longest continuous human presence in space, at eight days short of ten years. ''Mir''{{'s}} purpose was to provide a large and habitable scientific laboratory in space, and, through a number of collaborations, including [[Intercosmos]] and Shuttle–''Mir'', was made internationally accessible to cosmonauts and astronauts of many different countries. The station existed until March 23, 2001, at which point it was deliberately deorbited, and broke apart during atmospheric re-entry.<ref name="SSSM"/>

''Mir'' was based upon the [[Salyut]] series of space stations previously launched by the [[Soviet Union]] (seven Salyut space stations had been launched since 1971), and was mainly serviced by Russian-crewed [[Soyuz spacecraft]] and [[Progress spacecraft|Progress]] cargo ships. The [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]] space shuttle was anticipated to visit ''Mir'', but its program was canceled after its first uncrewed spaceflight. Visiting US Space Shuttles used an [[Androgynous Peripheral Attach System]] docking collar originally designed for Buran, mounted on a bracket originally designed for use with the American [[Space Station Freedom]].<ref name="SSSM"/>

With the Space Shuttle docked to ''Mir'', the temporary enlargements of living and working areas amounted to a complex that was the world's largest [[spacecraft]] at that time, with a combined mass of {{convert|250|MT|lk=on}}.<ref name="SSSM"/><ref>{{cite journal|author=David S. F. Portree |title=Mir Hardware Heritage |journal=NASA Sti/Recon Technical Report N |volume=95 |pages=23249 |date=March 1995 |url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf |access-date=March 30, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907191412/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2009  }}</ref>

===Space Shuttle===
{{Main|Space Shuttle}}
[[Image:STS-79 rollout.jpg|thumb|An overhead view of ''Atlantis'' as it sits atop the [[Mobile Launcher Platform]] (MLP) before [[STS-79]]|alt=An overhead view of a spaceplane, coloured white on its topside and black on its underside, attached to a large orange tank, to which two slender white rockets are also attached. A gray platform supporting this stack serves as the background.]]
The Space Shuttle was a partially [[reusable launch system|reusable]] [[low Earth orbit]]al [[spacecraft]] system that was operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. [[NASA|National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] (NASA) as part of the [[Space Shuttle program]].  Its official program name was ''Space Transportation System (STS)'', taken from a 1969 plan for [[Space Transportation System|a system of reusable spacecraft]] of which it was the only item funded for development.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/taskgrp.html |title=Space Task Group Report, 1969 |first=Roger D. |last=Launius |publisher=NASA |access-date=2019-08-15 |archive-date=2018-12-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224003836/https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/taskgrp.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. In addition to the prototype, whose completion was cancelled, five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from the [[Kennedy Space Center]] (KSC) in Florida. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds.<ref name="ShuttleByNumbers">{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/12376-nasa-space-shuttle-program-facts-statistics.html |title=NASA's Space Shuttle By the Numbers: 30 Years of a Spaceflight Icon |publisher=Space.com |date=July 21, 2011 |access-date=June 18, 2014 |author=Malik, Tarik |archive-date=May 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523041156/https://www.space.com/12376-nasa-space-shuttle-program-facts-statistics.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Space Shuttle carried large payloads to various orbits, and, during the Shuttle–''Mir'' and ISS programs, provided crew rotation and carried various supplies, modules and pieces of equipment to the stations. Each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or 10 years' operational life.<ref name="Basics">{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_STS.html|title=Shuttle Basics|publisher=NASA|access-date=September 21, 2009|date=March 5, 2006|author=Jim Wilson|archive-date=October 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003032520/http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_STS.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="SSS">{{cite book|author=David M. Harland|title=The Story of the Space Shuttle|date=July 5, 2004|publisher=Springer-Praxis|isbn=978-1-85233-793-3|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/storyofspaceshut0000harl}}</ref>

Nine docking missions were flown to ''Mir'', from 1995 to 1997 during "Phase One": Space Shuttle {{OV|104|full=no}} docked seven times to ''Mir'', with {{OV|103|full=no}} and {{OV|105|full=no}} each flying one docking mission to ''Mir''. As Space Shuttle {{OV|102|full=no}} was the oldest and heaviest of the fleet, it was not suited for efficient operations at ''Mir''{{'s}} (and later the [[International Space Station|ISS's]]) 51.6-degree inclination – ''Columbia'' was therefore not retrofitted with the necessary external airlock and Orbital Docking System, and never flew to a space station.<ref name="MissionChronicle">{{cite report|author=Sue McDonald|title=Mir Mission Chronicle|publisher=NASA|date=December 1998|url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/TP-1998-208920.pdf|access-date=March 30, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531210016/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/TP-1998-208920.pdf|archive-date=May 31, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Shuttle–Mir History/Spacecraft/Space Shuttle Orbiter|publisher=NASA|author=Kim Dismukes|date=April 4, 2004|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/spacecraft/to-s-orb.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011110151412/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/shuttle-mir/spacecraft/to-s-orb.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 10, 2001|access-date = March 30, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/features/000414overhaul/weightloss.html|publisher=Spaceflight Now|access-date=October 29, 2009|date=April 14, 2000|author=Justin Ray|title=Columbia Weight Loss Plan|archive-date=June 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607102729/http://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/features/000414overhaul/weightloss.html|url-status=live}}</ref>