Mir


This is a model of Mir in the middle of it's life - before the fires and explosions, before they drove a Progress supply ship into it, and before the addition of the Priroda and Spektr remote sensing modules. It is without a doubt the most successful group of space missions ever, home to 64 astronauts over it's fifteen year lifespan - one of these, Russian cosmonaut Dr. Valeri Polyakov, has spent a total of 22 months in space; and holds the record for the longest consecutive days in space (14 months - January 8, 1994 to March 1995).

From left to right: Kristall, Kvant-2, the Mir core module, and Kvant-1. This link has the full design spec. The bigger solar panels were decaled, rather than painted - it was fiddly to align such big transfers, especially on the zigzag panels, but the effect is excellent and far better than anything I could have achieved by painting.

The real thing, towards the end of it's life - and right at the end, re-entering over the Pacific at 7:18am on Friday March 23rd 2001.

Analytical Graphics illustrations of Mir's re-entry

Energia, the company that built Mir