March 23rd, 200 1 year, an unforgettable day.
On this day, the Mir space station, which has made great contributions to human spaceflight, crashed safely and smoothly in the South Pacific Ocean, completing its 15-year career. Mill, farewell! Your brilliant achievements will go down in history forever.
The first part: fifteen years of tenacious life
The topic of Mir should start from the Cold War era. In the fierce space hegemony contest between the Soviet Union and the United States, the Soviet Union's long-term manned flight plan was introduced.
1961April 12, Soviet astronaut Gagarin successfully circled the earth in Soyuz spacecraft. This space flight that shocked the world revealed the status of Soviet space hegemony. But in 1969, American astronauts landed on the moon. The Soviet Union felt that the crisis was imminent. In order to prove its unshakable hegemonic position in space, the Soviet government decided to take the road of manned space flight on its own. Therefore, the Soviet Union decided to build a space orbital station that can be used as a launch platform for space-based weapons, and let the Soviets stand guard in the sky.
Soon, the order to build an orbital station in space secretly reached the "energy" scientific consortium and the machinery manufacturing scientific production consortium. Since then, thousands of experts have worked overtime day and night to build it. Not long after, the first work "Diamond" military orbital station, that is, "Salute 1" came out. However, the technology is not perfect, and there is no desire to take off. Later, Soviet space experts continued to improve their works, followed by a series of fruitful results: 197 1 year, Salute No.2 was launched into orbit, and 170 days was unmanned; 1973, Salute 3 flew in orbit for 26 days, including manned flight for 23 days. This flight is the longest test of human life in space, which proves that human beings can survive in space and that the life support system established by Soviet experts can provide complete technical support for human survival in space. Later, Salute No.3, Salute No.4 and Salute No.5 were successfully put into orbit. However, the "Salute" series is very small and can only carry one astronaut, so the scientific experiment ability is very limited. They represent the first generation of Soviet orbital stations.
In order to improve the carrying capacity and scientific experiment ability of the orbital station, Sulenko began to transform and enlarge the "Salute" orbital station and developed the second generation orbital station. 1977, the "Salute 6" orbital station was completed. It can carry two astronauts and be launched into orbit on1September 29th, 977. It flew in space for four years and 0 10 months, with a total manned flight time of 6 17 days and nights. Later, it was replaced by Salute No.7 orbital station, and its performance was similar to Salute No.6, but its flying ability was twice as high as Salute No.6. /kloc-0 was launched in April, 1982, flying in orbit for 8 years 10 month, with total manned flight time 1075 days and nights.
Just as the Soviets built the "salute" series, Americans are afraid of losing their seats in space. 1973 in may, the "space laboratory" with three astronauts was put into orbit at once, and then 1974 made another launch. American astronauts also stayed in space for 84 days, which was a great achievement at that time. Later, I don't know why, Americans suddenly stopped "playing", which made the Soviets suspicious for a time. It turned out that Americans thought it was too expensive to build an orbital station, so they devoted themselves to building a space shuttle. The Soviet Union was excited about this. In the eyes of the Soviets, Americans can't compete with them. The Soviet Union continued to make progress in the field of space technology as planned.
In order to improve the manned flight capacity of the orbital station, expanding the volume of the orbital station has become the primary task of Soviet experts. Under the impetus of this idea, Soviet experts invented the construction method of multi-cabin orbital station and established a set of construction methods. 1979, in order to better complete its space program, the Soviet Union decided to build the third generation multi-module multifunctional long-term flight orbit station.
By the early 1980s, the Soviet government gradually felt that its appetite for manned space flight was so great that its finances were almost out of breath. But when the Soviets were about to wake up to their manned space flight, American President Ronald Reagan threw out the "Star Wars" plan. This plan greatly stimulated the nerves of the Soviet government. In a flash, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States reached its climax again.
After six years of hard work, the first module of Mir, the main module, has been completed. It has six docking centers, which can dock with other modules and spacecraft. It is the main control module of Mir, which controls the life support system and all scientific instruments, including the astronaut lounge and the astronaut office. According to the plan, Mir will eventually be composed of six modules, namely, control module, quantum 1 module, quantum 2 module, crystal module, spectrum module and natural module. The planned construction time is 2 years and the technical design life is 5 years.
"Quantum 1" module, also known as astrophysical module. It is a cabin for astrophysical research, which consists of a sealed test area and an unsealed instrument area. In addition, it has two docking ports, one for docking with the main cabin, and the other is usually used to dock the cargo ship "Progress".
Quantum 2 module, also known as assembly module. It is equipped with various scientific instruments and equipment to ensure that astronauts enter space, engage in spacewalking and conduct various scientific research and experiments.
Crystal cabin, also known as craft cabin. Mainly used in gravity material experiments. It is equipped with six crystal growth melting furnaces, four electrophoresis devices for manufacturing new drugs and two cameras. The cabin is equipped with two solar cells.
Spectral module, also known as remote sensing military module. It was originally planned for ground monitoring, including studying the natural resources of the earth, the atmosphere, the atmosphere outside the orbital station, the natural and geophysical changes in near-earth space, etc. It is equipped with four fast solar cells, which can provide supplementary energy for Mir. It is called military cabin because it was originally planned to monitor American missile launching technology and outer space technology. Of course, the plan didn't come true later. The cabin is equipped with biomedical and atmospheric detectors, computers, centrifuges and dynamometers.
Earth observation module, also known as nature module. It is the most advanced and complicated Earth observation spacecraft in the former Soviet Union and later Russia. Its main purpose is very similar to that of the spectral cabin. It is mainly used for the comprehensive study of the earth's land, ocean and atmosphere. Later, the module became the only module on Russian Mir to study natural resources and atmospheric physical state.
1986 On February 20th, as the 27th gift to the Soviet Union, the main module of Mir was launched. On March 13, the first space group consisting of two astronauts, Solovjeff and Kijim, arrived in Mir. Since then, Mir has started manned flights. On March 3rd, 1, 1986, the first module of Mir, Quantum1,was launched and successfully docked with the main module. Next, four other cabins will be launched to carry out scientific experiments in an all-round way. However, due to the high expenditure of the Mir project, the Soviet Union, whose economy began to decline, could only guarantee to support the continuous manned flight of Mir, but could not complete the construction of Mir on schedule. 1989, the "Quantum 2" module was launched into orbit; 1990, the "crystal capsule" was put into orbit.
199 1 The Soviet Union collapsed and the Cold War ended. Mir flew from the Soviet era to the Russian era. At this time, the United States has played the abacus of manned space station. First of all, I focused on Russia with weak financial resources but superb manned space technology. In this case, Russia accepted the olive branch of the United States and the "green dollar" of the United States. From the spring of 199 1 to the summer of 1998, the "Mir-Space Shuttle" and "Mir-NASA" programs have been implemented for more than seven years, and Mir has had enough foreign food. During this period, Mir completely completed the construction task. 1995, the "spectrum module" was launched into orbit, and most of the scientific instruments loaded on the "spectrum module" were American. 1996 The docking of the last "natural cabin" realized the long-cherished wish of the former Soviet Union and Russian space experts.
From the end of the summer of 1998, with the end of the foreign cooperation plan, Mir began to lack food and grass, and the government began to consider sinking Mir. However, under the strong voice of the "Baohe faction" headed by Semenoff, the chief designer of the energy company, the government later decided to authorize the energy company to conduct commercial operations on Mir. Unexpectedly, the road was rugged and cut, and it ended without results. Helpless, Mir entered the unmanned flight state on August 28th, 1999 on/kloc-0. Later, although the astronauts went up to take care of it for a while, it quickly returned to a lonely flying state.
In the end, Mir stubbornly flew into 2 1 century and chose to bid farewell to human society in the first spring of the new century. It walks calmly and quietly.
Medium-length: the glorious course of fifteen years
During the long fifteen years, Mir's achievements were brilliant and his contribution was priceless. Mir accelerated the pace of human beings entering the universe.
Mir is the third generation orbital station. It is the first multi-module and multi-functional space complex in the history of human space flight for fifteen years. It is not an exaggeration for some people to praise "artificial paradise". The successful construction of Mir means that human beings can build in outer space, go out of the earth and go to the universe.
Mir station is marked by1February 20, 986, when the main cabin was launched into orbit. 1996 was established and finally became a sword in ten years. Finally, there is a huge track complex composed of six modules, weighing 137 tons, with an internal space of 400 cubic meters and various scientific instruments weighing 12 tons. This not only enables Mir to carry out various scientific experiments in space, but also greatly expands the application of various scientific methods in space development.
Mir can accommodate three astronauts in orbit for a long time, and can receive 10 astronauts at most. Usually, Soyuz manned spacecraft and Progress cargo spacecraft dock on it, and it can also receive visiting American space shuttles.
Scientifically speaking, nearly 12 tons of advanced scientific instruments have armed Mir to the teeth. It is indeed the palace of human space science. Nearly 12 tons of scientific instruments come from 27 countries in the world, with more than 40 kinds of/kloc-0. Among them: natural science complex composed of 24 kinds of earth observation instruments, observatory composed of 6 electron microscopes and spectrometers, 6 medical diagnosis complexes, materials science and biotechnology instruments, etc. It can be said that Mir is a collection of the most advanced scientific instruments in the world. Scientists can use these scientific instruments to carry out basic research and applied research in ten major scientific and technological fields, including space life science, microgravity experiments, astrophysical research, earth observation and so on. Some experts call Mir a masterpiece of human science.
Indeed, the Mir orbital complex is unprecedented, and all the activities carried out on it are unprecedented. Every experiment and every achievement on Mir can be recorded in the history of human space, even the lessons of failure, which is extremely valuable to human beings who promote the exploration of the universe.
The construction mode and method of Mir itself is the original creation of space experts in the former Soviet Union, which can be said to open the way for mankind to enter space in the future. Relying on decades of work experience, they successfully invented the multi-module combination construction method of space complex, which made the dream of building a large space city come true. Some experts said that Mir's greatest contribution in the past 15 years was to develop space life science and solve the life support problem in space medicine. Soviet scientists solved the technical problem that people can live in space for 1.5 years. This is the most remarkable invention, consolidating the leading level of the former Soviet Union and Russia in microgravity environment research. A set of life support methods invented by scientists in the former Soviet Union and now Russia have laid a scientific and technological foundation for human beings to develop the moon, Mars and other extraterrestrial planets, and are also considered as the first step for human beings to travel between stars. In addition to human science, Mir also conducted a wide range of animal and plant life experiments. Such as the development and hatching of quail eggs under microgravity conditions; The cultivation methods of wheat, rape and other plants in space are explored by soil and hydroponics in order to provide food for interstellar travel. Through these experiments, we further understand the influence of weightlessness on the growth and development of life on earth, and formulate some prevention and countermeasures, which have made great contributions to human conquest of the universe. In life medicine, in addition to establishing a medical security system that can fly in orbit for10.5 years, methods for training and training experts have also been established. In microgravity experiments, scientists from the former Soviet Union and now Russia have done a lot of experiments in material manufacturing, biological bacteria production, pharmacy and fluid mechanics. Scientists have cultivated gallium arsenide crystals, monocrystalline silicon and so on. In space, the crystal structure of plasma formed by metal ions was obtained, the separation and growth experiment of protein was completed, high-purity biopharmaceuticals were produced, and a method for efficient purification and separation of biological products from protein was found. In addition, scientists have also studied and built a new power plant on Mir. These achievements show the bright future of manned space flight. Mir has also made great contributions to astrophysical research and Earth observation. The astrophysics module has made a lot of observations and explorations on various celestial bodies, X-rays, γ-rays, ultraviolet radiation sources and extraterrestrial space inside and outside the Milky Way. People have done a lot of research on elementary particles and cosmic rays, and the long-term continuous observation of supernova radiation spectrum data provides important information for exploring the evolution of cosmic objects.
According to statistics, scientists conducted about 6,200 astrophysical experiments on Mir, and found rigid Roentgen rays exceeding 1987 angstrom, and carefully studied "KS" Roentgen rays and the center of the Milky Way. In natural resources research and ecological monitoring, Mir astronauts used new instruments to take photos of the earth's surface of 65.438+0.25 billion square kilometers in various spectral bands, and established an image database of spectral measurement and radio measurement information. Using the flight of Mir 15, scientists in the former Soviet Union and now Russia have determined the materials suitable for building the long-term orbital complex, and have also carried out the power generation test of space cable, the test of aerial loop antenna, the test of solar reflector and the laser communication test between Mir and underwater nuclear submarine.
Generally speaking, Mir has completed many long-term research projects during its entire operation. 1986- 1990 completed the following plans: the overall goal plan of the Soviet Union's microelectronics and space semiconductor materials science, the comprehensive research plan of the Soviet Union's natural resources and global ecological goals, the comprehensive goal plan of the Soviet Union's application of large-scale structural materials and processes, the comprehensive plan of the Soviet Union's agricultural field and space biotechnology, in addition to the Maret plan of Syria and the comprehensive plan of France. During the period of 1990- 1993, there were 10 international projects, such as "TBS for Space Visit" in Japan, "Chuno" in Britain and "Peace-92" in Germany. The completed plans from 1993 to 1996 include: Kazakhstan's flight plan, American Peace-Space Shuttle Plan, Peace-NASA Plan, European Peace 94 Plan of ESA, European Peace 95 Plan and Casio Bier Plan of Germany. During the period from 1997 to 2000, the completed projects included: Peace-NASA project in the United States, Peace -97 project in Germany, Biegas project in Germany and Flight-M2 project in Kazakhstan. As can be seen from the completed plan, Mir later became an international scientific laboratory to some extent. Of the total of ***3 1200 scientific experiments or studies, 7600 are international cooperation projects.
In the past fifteen years, a total of 28 long-term space teams have worked on Mir and received 65,438+06 short-term exploration teams. In the past fifteen years, a total of 104 astronauts have visited Mir, including 62 astronauts from 1 1 countries such as the United States and Germany. Mir has docked with manned spacecraft or cargo spacecraft 109 times, including 70 cargo spacecraft, 30 manned spacecraft and 9 American space shuttles. Russian astronaut poliakov set a world record of living in space for 438 consecutive days on Mir. Through Mir, astronauts made 78 spacewalks, lasting 364 hours.
According to the data of Russian space department, the amount of scientific and technological information transmitted from Mir to the ground through radio telemetry channel needs more than 1 10,000 if it is stored on the floppy disk of ordinary computer, which can fill 40 rooms with the size of 1 10,000 square meters. 4700 kilograms of experimental materials were shipped back. It is amazing that Mir spent tens of billions of dollars in its fifteen years of existence. Experts commented that Mir's brilliant scientific and technological achievements are priceless.
Next: Suffering.
On March 23rd, Mir quietly left, walking so freely and calmly. Tanta also left a bitter story.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Mir entered the Russian era. The political situation in Russia is unstable, and the government has no money to support Mir. In this case, the United States threw the international space station plan to Russia. That is, since then, Russia has been recruited by the United States, and Mir has also filled its stomach. With the support of western partners such as the United States, the last two spectral capsules and natural capsules delayed for many years were launched in 1995 and 1996 respectively. Mill waited nearly 10 years before he was reunited with his family. However, the good times did not last long. 1998 In the summer, with the completion of the Russian-American "Mir-Space Shuttle" and "Mir-NASA" plans, after six or seven good years, the days of Mir began to be hungry.
1On August 28th, 999, the astronauts were forced to leave Mir, and Mir entered the unmanned flight stage. Fortunately, the United States and other western countries have paid for Mir for seven or eight years, which is equivalent to extending its life. It is reported that in the recent 10 years, the Russian Space Agency and the Energy and Space Company have obtained nearly 654,380+0.5 billion US dollars of foreign investment. By the end of 2000, when human society was about to enter the new century, the Russian government finally made a painful death sentence for Mir.
Experts believe that there are also problems in the design of Mir. Defects in power system design lead to serious shortage of power supply capacity, which affects the effectiveness of Mir. The capacity of the round-trip transportation system is insufficient, and the goods cannot be completely recovered; There are problems in attitude control system, which can not solve the problem of rational utilization of energy, resulting in excessive waste and increased supply times. Due to design problems, increased costs, and insufficient financial support from the government for Mir, the construction period is longer, which leads to the aging of the station structure in different degrees, frequent failures and decreased utilization rate. Technical defects not only caused several fatal accidents, but also affected the flight life of Mir.
Three major accidents left Mill scarred. 1994 65438+ 10. In October, the Soyuz TM- 17 spacecraft carrying astronaut Zibuliev collided with Mir for the last time. Fortunately, the accident did not hurt the astronauts, and the Mir station and spacecraft did not cause serious structural damage, but the collision was huge, leaving hidden dangers that could not be discovered. 1In February 1997, a fire broke out in Mir. Astronauts Zibuliev and Lazutkin struggled to put out the fire, and it took them a whole night to put it out. Since then, they have had to wear gas masks for a long time. 1The air crash on June 25th, 997 caused fatal injuries to Mir. At that time, a spaceship "Progress M-34" docked on Mir was diverted in the air to make room for the upcoming spaceship "Progress M-35". Results "Progress M-33" lost control during shunting and directly crashed into the spectrum cabin. This impact can be said to have damaged the structure of the Mir station. At that time, the solar panel on the spectrum cabin was damaged, the spectrum cabin lost its sealing performance, and a large amount of oxygen leaked out. Later, after various efforts, the wound was still not repaired. Since then, the spectrum cabin has been completely closed, and the solar panels have been cut off, leaving only the power system.
During the unmanned flight of Mir, an accident that shocked the world happened. At the end of February, 2000, Mir suddenly disappeared from the monitoring screen of Russian flight control center. The accident left experts at a loss at the Russian flight control center and there was no news for 24 hours. Fortunately, Mir later responded to the call of the ground. Otherwise, Mir will become a kite with a broken line, and I don't know where it will fall.
Before Mir crashed on March 23rd, experts from Russian Flight Control Center said that Mir should crash and sink, and before it loses control, don't let it get out of control and harm human beings.
After the wreckage of Mir crashed into the sea, Anfimov, director of the Russian Central Machinery Manufacturing Research Institute, seemed to regret that Mir could fly for three years after it was repaired. But his voice changed, there were too many problems, and the maintenance cost was too high to be worth it. ...