What is the best reason to fund the space program? Why?
Which of the spinoffs that you read about was a complete surprise to you?
What other kinds of technology transfers do you envision coming out of future space programs to the Moon and Mars?
In the next chapter, you will read about the goals and activities of the first phase of the International Space Station Program, the international cooperative venture called Shuttle-Mir.
Next...Shuttle-Mir
Phase 1 Shuttle Mir
"Men who have worked together to reach the stars are not likely to descend together into the depths of war and desolation."
Shuttle-Mir Phase 1 was a NASA program encompassing 11 space shuttle flights over a 4-year period from 1995 to 1998. Its goal was to build joint space experience and start joint scientific research. It was called Phase 1 because it was the first phase in the International Space Station (ISS) project that is currently under way. Phase 2 is the actual construction of the ISS that is occurring now.
Seven American astronauts lived on board the Mir space station with the Russian cosmonaut crews for up to 6 months at a time. The missions were highlighted by crew exchange and resupply trips from the space shuttle to the Mir station. NASA learned how to successfully dock the shuttle with the Mir, which was advantageous to our knowledge of docking techniques and systems that we are now using with the ISS facility.
A fire and a spacecraft crash during Phase 1 helped us to learn ways of coping with emergencies situations and helped lead to new training methods, safety precautions, emergency procedures, and structural and design concerns as we built and inhabit the ISS.
Cosmonaut Nicolai Budarinon on the Mir
NASA and Russian engineers, designers, technicians, and flight crews worked together to achieve a common goal melding their different work styles into a unified plan. The Shuttle-Mir Program was a complicated program incorporating the very different working styles and philosophies of the U.S. and Russian space agencies and their international partners.
The Russian space station Mir provided the long-duration living and working quarters for the international flight crews. Its oldest components have now been in orbit for 12 years, but it has been constantly renewed, updated, and resupplied to keep it in good condition. The collision of a Progress cargo vessel with the Spektr module in 1997 resulted in the loss of that module. However, joint efforts to locate the source of the leak and figure out ways to repair it allowed crews and engineers to gain experience working on a difficult.
NASA astronauts underwent specialized training before living on board Mir. As a prerequisite for the assignment, they had to acquire cosmonaut certification training in Star City. They also learned to speak Russian and attained proficiency with the experiments they would perform. The first American to live on board Mir reported feelings of loneliness and isolation, and steps were taken to prevent that happening to his successors. These experiences have led to greater understanding of the psychological as well as the physical stresses of long-duration spaceflight.
Astronaut Norman E. Thagard in a cosmonaut space suit in the Training Simulator Facility at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (Star City)
Both United States and international microgravity science partners used the facilities aboard Mir to conduct investigations in fluid physics, combustion, biotechnology, and materials science. The microgravity facilities aboard the Mir space station included furnaces, a glovebox, and a system to isolate experiments from the station’s vibration environment.
Click here for an interview with American Mir astronaut Shannon Lucid.
This Phase 1 Program, a precursor to the International Space Station, maintained a continuous presence in space and developed the procedures and hardware required for international partnerships in space.
Astronaut Shannon Lucid aboard the shuttle Atlantis after her 6 months on board Mir
Crew of STS-79 and Mir-22
The Shuttle-Mir Program sought to answer vital questions about the future of human life in space. Crews could experience real-life issues that might otherwise arise with even more serious consequences aboard the International Space Station. Mir was a test site for three main areas of experience and investigation.
