Comprehend the Salyut space station Comprehend the Skylab space station Comprehend the Mir space station Comprehend the International Space Station From Salyut to the International Space Station

Lesson Overview The Salyut space station The Skylab space station The Mir space station The International Space Station

The Salyut Space Station Salyut was the name for this first series of space stations On 19 April 1971 the Soviets launched Salyut 1 It was the first space station in history The mission’s purpose was to test the space station’s systems and to conduct scientific research and experiments But the principal mission was to study the effect on the human body of long trips into space

Research Conducted on Salyut Salyut 1 carried a telescope for studying stellar spectra Stellar spectrum - characteristic pattern of light that a star emits Salyut 1 included a greenhouse to analyze plant growth, and a camera and film plates to study cosmic rays

The First US Space Station NASA launched Skylab 1n May 1973 Skylab’s first crew launched in May 1973 The second crew made additional repairs to Skylab during their 59-day stint in orbit

Skylab’s Two Main Purposes To prove that humans could live and work in space in reasonable comfort over extended periods To expand solar astronomy beyond the observations that could be made from Earth NASA deemed Skylab a success in all respects

The Scientific and Technical Experiments Conducted From Skylab The greatest solar observatory of its time In practical terms, Skylab led to new technologies NASA had special showers, toilets, sleeping bags, exercise equipment, and kitchen facilities designed for the low- gravity environment of Earth orbit

The Mir Space Station Cosmonauts put Mir together piece by piece over 10 years, starting in 1986 Astronauts carried out some 23,000 scientific and medical experiments Between March 1995 and May 1998 scientists carried out experiments about how plants and animals function in space and how the Solar System developed Addressed questions of how to build better technology in space and how to build future space stations

The Shuttle-Mir Program The United States and Soviet Union fulfilled their pledge to work together in space It involved US space shuttle flying missions to the Russian space station Mir The focus was on long-duration missions

Controlling Mir’s De-orbit The Russian space agency guided Mir flawlessly back to Earth on 23 March 2001 By then the Russians had already managed to deorbit – to cause to go out of orbit – 80 Progress spacecraft and five Salyut space stations since 1978 Larger pieces sizzled harmlessly into the South Pacific Pieces of the Russian space station Mir race across the sky above Fiji as it makes its descent into the earth's atmosphere. Mir plunged to earth after Russian Mission Control fired engines to nudge it out of the orbit it has kept for 15 years.

The International Space Station

Nations Working Together

Comprehend the Salyut space station Comprehend the Skylab space station Comprehend the Mir space station Comprehend the International Space Station From Salyut to the International Space Station