Spektr Module

The Spektr ("Spectrum") module joined Mir in May 1995. The module was designed for scientific research, specifically Earth observation. The module includes equipment to study the atmosphere and surface, as well as detectors to study the x-ray and gamma-ray background outside the station. Spektr hosted other experiments and served as the living quarters for American astronauts stayong on Mir as part of the joint Russian-American program. The module also has 4 solar panels which before June 1997 generated about half of the station's electrical power.

On June 25, 1997, the Progress M-34 spacecraft crashed into Spektr. The collision damaged one of the solar panels and also punctured the hull, depressurizing the module. The module was sealed off from the rest of the station, keeping the rest of the station from losing air but cutting off the power cables that supplied electricity to the rest of the station from Spektr's solar panels. An "internal" spacewalk inside the depressurized module in August 1997 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov succeeded in restoring those connections, and a second internal spacewalk by them in October connected two of the panels to a computer system that allows them to be controlled remotely, so they can align with the Sun. A spacewalk ouside the module in September by Solovyov and Michael Foale did not locate the source of the leak, but later experiments observed by a shuttle crew just after undocking from Mir in October appear to pinpoint the source of the leak at the base of the damaged solar panel.

While there have been no efforts to fix the leak and repressurize the module, there have been several external spacewalks, including two in early April to shore up a solar panel damaged in the Progress collision in 1997.

Key Stats:

Length:	13 m (42.9 ft.)
Mass:	19,640 kg (43,200 lbs.)
Max. Diameter	4.3 m (14.2 ft.)
Volume:	61.9 m^3 (2200 cu. ft.)