Editing Mir (section)

=== Unpressurised elements ===
{{anchor|VDU}}
[[File:Mir unpressurised elements.jpg|thumb|The Travers radar antenna, ''Sofora'' girder, VDU thruster block, SPK unit and a ''Strela'' crane, alongside [[Kvant-2|''Kvant''-2]] and ''[[Priroda]]'']]
In addition to the pressurised modules, ''Mir'' featured several external components. The largest component was the ''Sofora'' girder, a large scaffolding-like structure consisting of 20 segments which, when assembled, projected 14 metres from its mount on ''Kvant''-1. A self-contained thruster block, the VDU (Vynosnaya Dvigatyelnaya Ustanovka), was mounted on the end of ''Sofora'' and was used to augment the roll-control thrusters on the core module. The VDU's increased distance from ''Mir'''s axis allowed an 85% decrease in fuel consumption, reducing the amount of propellant required to orient the station.<ref name="SSSM"/>{{page needed|date=February 2021}} A second girder, ''Rapana'', was mounted aft of ''Sofora'' on ''Kvant''-1. This girder, a small prototype of a structure intended to be used on [[Mir-2|''Mir''-2]] to hold large parabolic dishes away from the main station structure, was 5 metres long and used as a mounting point for externally mounted exposure experiments.<ref name="SSSM"/>{{page needed|date=February 2021}}

To assist in moving objects around the exterior of the station during [[Extra-vehicular activity|EVAs]], ''Mir'' featured two [[Strela (crane)|''Strela'' cargo cranes]] mounted to the sides of the core module, used for moving spacewalking cosmonauts and parts. The cranes consisted of telescopic poles assembled in sections which measured around {{convert|6|ft|m|order=flip}} when collapsed, but when extended using a hand crank were {{convert|46|ft|m|order=flip}} long, meaning that all of the station's modules could be accessed during spacewalks.<ref>{{cite book|title=Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel|publisher=Henry (Joseph) Press|isbn=978-0-309-08548-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0e2vl0sev2IC&pg=PA297|author=Robert Zimmerman|date=3 September 2003|page=297|access-date=27 February 2018|archive-date=5 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805233521/https://books.google.com/books?id=0e2vl0sev2IC&pg=PA297|url-status=live}}</ref>

Each module was fitted with external components specific to the experiments that were carried out within that module, the most obvious being the Travers antenna mounted to ''Priroda''. This [[synthetic aperture radar]] consisted of a large dish-like framework mounted outside the module, with associated equipment within, used for Earth observations experiments, as was most of the other equipment on ''Priroda'', including various radiometers and scan platforms.<ref name="MHH"/>{{page needed|date=February 2021}} ''Kvant''-2 also featured several scan platforms and was fitted with a mounting bracket to which the [[Astronaut Propulsion Unit#Soviet SPK|cosmonaut manoeuvring unit]], or ''Ikar'', was mated. This backpack was designed to assist cosmonauts in moving around the station and the planned ''Buran'' in a manner similar to the US [[Manned Maneuvering Unit]], but it was only used once, during [[Mir EO-5|EO-5]].<ref name="SSSM"/>{{page needed|date=February 2021}}

In addition to module-specific equipment, ''Kvant''-2, ''Kristall'', ''Spektr'' and ''Priroda'' were each equipped with one [[Lyappa arm|''Lyappa'' arm]], a robotic arm which, after the module had docked to the core module's forward port, grappled one of two fixtures positioned on the core module's docking node. The arriving module's docking probe was then retracted, and the arm raised the module so that it could be pivoted 90° for docking to one of the four radial docking ports.<ref name="MHH"/>{{page needed|date=February 2021}}