Priroda

Priroda

A view of Priroda from the departing Space Shuttle Endeavour during STS-89

Mir insignia
Station statistics
Call sign Mir
Launch April 23, 1996
Docked with Mir April 26, 1996
Launch pad LC-81/23, Baikonur Cosmodrome,
Kazakhstan
Reentry March 21, 2001
Mass 19,700 kg
Length 9.7 metres
Diameter 4.35 metres
Pressurised volume 66 m3
Perigee 385 km (207.9 nmi)
Apogee 393 km (212.2 nmi)
Orbital inclination 51.6 degrees
Orbital period 89.1 minutes
Orbits per day 16.16
Days in orbit 1,793 days
Configuration

Cut-away view of Priroda

The Priroda (Russian: Природа; English: Nature) (TsM-I, 77KSI, 11F77I) module was the seventh and final module of the Mir Space Station. Its primary purpose was to conduct Earth resource experiments through remote sensing and to develop and verify remote sensing methods. The control system of Priroda was developed by the Khartron[1] (Kharkov, Ukraine).

Description

Priroda was originally designed to carry a deployable solar array. However, due to delays, and the fact that solar arrays were planned for other parts of Mir, a solar array was not included in the launch configuration. Instead, during free flight, Priroda was powered by two redundant sets of batteries totaling 168. Priroda had an unpressurized instrument compartment and a habitable instrument/payload compartment. The unpressurized compartment contained propulsion system components, EVA handrails, and scientific equipment. The instrument/payload compartment was divided into two sections: an outer instrument section and an inner habitation and work compartment. Experiments on Priroda were provided by twelve different nations. These experiments covered microwave, visible, near infrared, and infrared spectral regions using both passive and active sounding methods.

Diagram of Priroda pointing out external features

Remote sensing instruments:

Closeup of the Travers antenna taken by the crew of STS-79

Launch and docking

Priroda was launched on April 23, 1996, on a Proton rocket. After reaching orbit, an electrical connector failure caused the amount of power available on Priroda to be cut in half. Due to the electrical problem, Priroda would only have one attempt at docking before power would be lost. This caused some concern for ground controllers because most other modules failed to dock on their first attempt. However, Priroda docked with no problems on April 26. After being moved to its permanent location at the +Z docking port on the base block, Priroda was connected to the rest of the station's electrical system, which allowed it to run off power from solar arrays on other modules. The crew on board then removed the batteries from Priroda and stored them in Progress M-31 for a destructive re-entry.

During the last expedition to Mir in 2000, power loads were reportedly so high that the crew was not able to activate any of Priroda's payloads.

Priroda, along with the other Mir components, were destroyed when the Mir station was de-orbited in March 2001, entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Priroda.

References

  1. ↑ Krivonosov, Khartron: Computers for rocket guidance systems
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