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More on Mir,
InfoTelesys' Mir Around The World Plan
| The Transformation: from Mir
Modules to IT GEO Sat's™ Mir is made up of six modules launched at different dates. According to Mir engineers, these modules can easily last another decade or more.
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InfoTelesys' plan is to launch an immediate mission to prepare Space Station Mir for IT Sat™ deployment and to carryout necessary maintenance such as installing a new communication system, upgrading batteries and some solar panels and replacing the gyrodyne. The cost of maintaining and upgrading Mir's systems is seventy million dollars. The cost of installing InfoTelesys technologies and elevating the modules to GEO orbit will probably range between one hundred and five hundred million dollars, cost effective when considering that a single high-end GEO satellite can cost a quarter of a billion dollars. IT GEO 1 - Mir Core |
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The 20.4-ton Mir Core Module is the building block on which most of the other modules are attached. This module provides basic services such as living quarters, life support, and power systems, in addition to scientific research capabilities. | ||
| There are two axial docking ports, fore and
aft, on which Soyuz-TM manned transports and automated Progress-M
supply ships can dock for carrying supplies and personnel to the station.
Four radial berthing ports are used to attach the other Mir modules. The Core Module is the oldest part of the station, and was launched in February of 1986. The Core Module was built solidly because it makes up the foundation of Mir. In space, the Core can last for many more years, if not decades and even centuries. InfoTelesys will need to upgrade some of the power systems on the Core Module and some of the other modules to support our data centers. |
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| IT GEO 2 - Kvant-1 Astrophysics Module | |
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Kvant was added to the Mir core's aft port in 1987. This small, 11-ton module contains astrophysics instruments, life support, and attitude control equipment. The Kvant-1 module is designed to provide data and observations for research into the physics of active galaxies, quasars, and neutron stars. This data is gathered with devices |
| that measure electromagnetic spectra and x-ray emissions. The Kvant-1 also supports biotechnology experiments in the areas of antiviral preparations and fractions. | |
| IT GEO 3 - Kvant-2 Scientific and Airlock Module | |
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Kvant 2, added in 1989, carries an EVA airlock, solar arrays, and life support equipment. The 19.6-ton module is based on the transport logistics spacecraft originally intended for the Almaz military space station program of the early 1970s. |
The purpose of Kvant-2 is to provide biological research data, Earth observation data, and EVA capability. It gives Mir additional system capabilities, as well as an additional life support system, drinking water, and oxygen provisions, motion control systems, power distribution, and shower and washing facilities. Kvant-2 is divided into three pressurized compartments: instrumentation/cargo, science instrument, and airlock. The airlock not only provides EVA capability, but also contains a self-sustained cosmonaut maneuvering unit that increases the range and complexity of tasks that can be attempted via EVA. For instance, various construction materials and electronic components can be placed on the outside of the Mir Complex modules via EVA. The effects of space environment exposure on these construction materials can later be investigated. |
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| IT GEO 4 - Spektr Module | |
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Launched on a Russian Proton rocket from the Baikonur launch center in central Asia, Spektr was lofted into orbit on May 20, 1995. The module was berthed at the radial port opposite Kvant 2 after Kristall was moved out of the way. Spektr carries four solar arrays and scientific equipment (including more than 1600 pounds of U.S. equipment). |
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The focus of scientific study for this module is Earth observation, specifically natural resources and atmosphere. The equipment onboard is supplied by both Russia and the United States. The Scientific equipment on Spektr includes: Pion, Lira and Buton equipment for atmospheric research,Faza and Feniks equipment for surface studies,Astra-2 equipment for atmospheric trace constituent monitoring, and Taurus and Grif equipment for monitoring Mir's induced x-ray and gamma-ray background. |
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| IT GEO 5 - Kristall Technological Module | |
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Added in 1990, Kristall carries scientific equipment, retractable solar arrays, and a docking node equipped with a special androgynous docking mechanism designed to receive spacecraft weighing up to 100 tons. |
The purpose of the Kristall module is to develop biological and materials production technologies in the space environment. One component of the Kristall is a radial docking port. Originally designed as a potential means of docking the Russian Buran reusable shuttle orbiter, this port is now attached to the Docking Module. |
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| IT GEO 6 - Priroda Module | |
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Priroda was the last module to be added to Mir. After its launch from Baikonur on April 23, 1996, Priroda docked onto the space station on April 26. Its primary purpose is to add Earth remote sensing capability to Mir. It also contains the hardware and supplies for several joint U.S.-Russian science experiments. |
The Earth remote sensing capabilities of Priroda include: Monitoring the ecological situation of large industrial areas, estimating anthropogenous effects on ecological systems, measuring the concentration and spatial distribution of small gaseous components in an atmosphere of ozone and anthropogenous impurities, determining temperature fields on the ocean surface and researching the process of energy and mass exchange between ocean and atmosphere affecting the weather, receiving data on the classification, structure, and moisture of clouds, including their optical characteristics, receiving data for plotting geological structure maps on the refinement of mineral reserves, water reserves, soil erosion, and the condition of forests and crops, acquiring emergency information from buoys in areas of nuclear power stations, seismically dangerous areas, and other zones, to create an integrated monitoring and warning system (Kentavr), performing measurements in order to obtain data for working out the ecological and economic theory of natural resources utilization. |
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