 |
 The Mir Space Station
was the first consistently inhabited long-term
research space station. Launched into orbit on
February 20, 1986, the station was almost
continuously inhabited until March 23, 2001, when
it was de-orbited. |
 Mir Space Station
Missions and Crews |
 The First
Mir-Atlantis Mission Between June 27
and July 7, 1995, the combination of the Space
Shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Space Station
Mir formed the largest structure ever assembled
in orbit to that time, and was the brightest
object in the night sky. |
 Salyut
6 was a Soviet orbital space
station. Launched in 1977, it allowed the Soviet
space station program to evolve from
short-duration to long-duration stays. |
 The Gemini Program
was the intermediate step toward achieving a
manned lunar landing, bridging the flight
experience gap between the short-duration Mercury
missions and the long-duration missions of
Apollo. The first unmanned mission was launched
on April 8, 1964; the last manned mission ended
on November 15, 1966. |
 The Gemini Spacecraft
was the first American manned spacecraft to
include an onboard computer to facilitate
management and control of mission manuevers. |
 Project Skylab
was launched May 14, 1973. The project was
designed to demonstrate that man could work and
live in space for prolonged periods without ill
effect. In spite of the project's short lifespan
and some early mechanical difficulties, the
project was successful in every way. |
| The Launch of
Skylab did not go exactly as
planned. The meteoroid shield was lost some 63
seconds after launch, causing one of the solar
arrays to be torn away. |
 Taking a Shower
Aboard Skylab took
some effort and time to get the job done, but was
reported to be a pleasant experience. |
 Sleeping Aboard
Skylab involved
zipping oneself into a "sleeping bag"
inside a compartment. |
 The
First Manned Skylab Mission resulted
in the repair of the damaged meteoroid shield and
deployment of a jammed solar panel. Despite
having to take time for these repairs, the crew
managed to complete most of its assigned
experiments. |
 The
Second Manned Skylab Mission
featured three "spacewalks," one of
which lasted over six hours. It also studied the
ability of two spiders to spin webs without the
influence of gravity. |
| The Third Manned
Skylab Mission observed and
documented the newly discovered Comet Kohoutek.
It also documented the physical changes
astronauts undergo while in space. |
