Mir Space Station

While often derided in the press as an aging, decrepit station, The Russian space station Mir (the Russian word for "peace") is actually a complex of old and new modules. The core module of the station, which serves as the living quarters and command center of Mir, was launched in 1986; the Priroda science module was added in 1996. In between, a series of modules have been added to the station to increase the capability and functionality of the complex.

The station currently consists of seven modules:

Mir Core (1986)
Kvant (1987)
Kvant-2 (1989)
Kristall (1990)
Spektr (1995)
Shuttle Docking Module (1995)
Priroda (1996)

Cosmonauts fly to and from Mir in Soyuz-TM spacecraft. Supplies are ferried to the station in Progress-M unmanned spacecraft.

Mir will continue to be used by Russia after the series of joint American-Russian missions ends in mid-1998. Russia will likely abandon the station in 1999 when the International Space Station becomes habitable. At that time Russia plans to deorbit the space station, either by breaking it into its compent modules and allowing each to burn up separately in the Earth's atmosphere, or to have it all reenter at once, carefully planned so that no debris falls on populated areas.