1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, it's Jonathan, and before we get to today's episode, 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: I've got something I want to say, and that's there 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: are a lot of Russian names in this episode that 4 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: I absolutely butcher, but none do I butcher as much 5 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: as I do one that's spelled k v, A and T, 6 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: because I forgot while recording the episode that in Russian 7 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: v is essentially like a double you type sound like 8 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: vodka is vodka. So through the entire episode I pronounced 9 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: it as kvant when it should be quant, which makes 10 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: way more sense because it does reference quantum. So just 11 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 1: be prepared to hear me mispronounced quant as kvant a 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,879 Speaker 1: billion times, as well as pretty much every other Russian 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: term and name that's in this My apologies, it's my fault, 14 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: but rather than go back and re record everything, I 15 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: thought I would warn you up front. And now let's 16 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: get to this interesting, if not correctly pronounced episode. Welcome 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. Hey there, 18 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,479 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio and a 20 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: love of all things tech, and in this episode, we 21 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,199 Speaker 1: are continuing our history about space stations. We are going 22 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: to focus on mirror. So in the last episode, I 23 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: talked about the first space station, the Salut one UH 24 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: that was from the Soviet Union, plus other stations in 25 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: the Saliot line, some of which were secretly military reconnaissance 26 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: space stations that were masquerading as civilian science stations. Pretty sneaky, 27 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: those Soviets. I also talked about the sky Lab space station, 28 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: which was inhabited for just one seventy one days but 29 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: had been in orbit for two thousand, two hundred forty 30 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: nine days, and I touched on this in the last episode. 31 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: But the reason sky Lab was unoccupied for most of 32 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: the time it was orbiting Earth is that NASA no 33 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: longer really had access to launch vehicles and space capsules 34 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: that could, you know, visit the station. They didn't. They 35 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: physically didn't have the equipment or the budget needed to 36 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 1: send more missions to sky Lab, and was essentially waiting 37 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: on the Space Shuttle program to come online to go 38 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: back to sky Lab. But the Space Shuttle program was 39 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: delayed to the point where sky Lab could no longer 40 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: maintain orbit, and it re entered Earth's atmosphere in the 41 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 1: summer of seventy nine. But we've got a lot more 42 00:02:43,919 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: to talk about when it comes to space stations, and 43 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: now we're going to pop back over to the then 44 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: Soviet Union. So sky Lab came down in seventy nine, 45 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: and the last of the Saliot stations, Saliot seven, entered 46 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: orbit in nine two and would remain in orbit until now. 47 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: While sal Yot seven was an orbit, a new Soviet 48 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:09,440 Speaker 1: space station would take form in space, and that station 49 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: was Mirror M I R. Now, just as a reminder, 50 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: before Mirror, all space stations were what we call monolithic 51 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: in form. Now that means that they went up fully 52 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: assembled in in one big piece, you know, kind of 53 00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: like they were a one piece space station, even though 54 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: if you break it down, they're actually made up of 55 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: many many pieces, but it's all, you know, pre assembled. 56 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: Mirror would take the next step forward. It would be 57 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,080 Speaker 1: the first modular space station, meaning the station would ultimately 58 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: be made up of multiple modules which would then connect 59 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: to a core module out in space. Uh. There's a 60 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: lot of benefits to this particular approach, but the big 61 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: one is that you're not as limited on internal space 62 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: inside your station, and you're not limited by mass the 63 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 1: way you would be with a monolithic design line. So 64 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 1: let's get into physics for a second to really understand 65 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: why this is a big deal. So Isaac Newton that 66 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,640 Speaker 1: smarty Pants mathematically demonstrated the concept of an exchange of 67 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: momentum in the sixteen hundreds, and a few centuries later 68 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: a Russian scientist named Konstantine Soolkovski applied the idea of 69 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: conservational momentum to rockets. This was in nineteen o three, 70 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: and that became the basis of all of our rocketry 71 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,479 Speaker 1: moving forward. And there are three big things you have 72 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,159 Speaker 1: to keep in mind when you're trying to launch something 73 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 1: into space using a rocket. Those three things are the 74 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: energy that you need to generate in order to work 75 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: against gravity, which in most rocket equations we represent with 76 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:48,919 Speaker 1: the delta V to indicate rocket velocity. The value of 77 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: this depends on where you're planning on going. If you're 78 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: going to Mars, then you'll need to exert more energy 79 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: than if you were just going into low Earth orbit. 80 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:02,960 Speaker 1: Once you've selected where you're going and where you're starting from, 81 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: the value of this variable solidifies. There's nothing we can 82 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: do to change that number. This is literally physics. It's 83 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,960 Speaker 1: the amount of energy needed to get into that part 84 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: from wherever you are. Also, it takes about twice the 85 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,839 Speaker 1: amount of energy to go from Earth to Mars as 86 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:23,520 Speaker 1: it would take to go from Earth to Earth orbit. However, 87 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: what's really interesting to me is just getting into orbit 88 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 1: is about half of that total energy to get to Mars, 89 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: because just overcoming Earth's gravity and not falling back to 90 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: the planet requires a lot of energy. So while it 91 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,839 Speaker 1: takes more energy to get to Mars that it does 92 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: to get to low Earth orbit, just getting to lower 93 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,159 Speaker 1: Earth orbit is hard. Then you've got how much energy 94 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: is available in your propellant, right, how much potential energy 95 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: is stored in the fuel you are using. Not all 96 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: propellants are equal in this, Some are more dense in 97 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: energy than others. But again we're limited here. The rockets 98 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,679 Speaker 1: we use rely on chemical reactions. There is a limit 99 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: to how much energy we can release out of these 100 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: chemical reactions. Physics dictates it we can't go beyond that, 101 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: so again reality has limited us. And finally, you've got 102 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: the propellant mass fraction, which is how much propellant you 103 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:24,239 Speaker 1: need in comparison with the total mass of the stuff 104 00:06:24,279 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: you're sending off into space. Your rocket. So we've decided 105 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: where we want to go, you know, like low Earth orbit, 106 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 1: and we've decided which propellant we're going to use to 107 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: get there. And those two factors tell us the limitations 108 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: we face in getting a spacecraft to that point, because 109 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,920 Speaker 1: it sets the ratio we have to hit between the 110 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:44,599 Speaker 1: amount of fuel and the total mass of the rocket. 111 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,160 Speaker 1: And obviously, as you add more fuel, you add more mass, 112 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: so you start hitting some fundamental limitations there too. We 113 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: can't just keep, you know, building more massive rockets. You 114 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: start to run into an issue with that ratio, or 115 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: at least, you know, we start to bump up against 116 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: tough restrictions if we try to do that. And so 117 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: if we want to build sizeable structures in space rather 118 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: than just like creating a truly monstrous rocket, the solution 119 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: is to make those structures modular and then to launch 120 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: large sections of the structures and individual launches and then 121 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: assemble them in space. That's what Mirror would do. Now, 122 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,600 Speaker 1: as I'm sure anyone listening to these episodes understands, the 123 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 1: road to developing, constructing, and deploying any sort of spacecraft 124 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: tends to be a pretty long one. While the first 125 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: Mirror module would launch in February nine six. The planning 126 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:43,480 Speaker 1: for the station began a decade earlier, in the middle 127 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: of the Saliot program, so Mirror got an official approval 128 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: from the Soviet government in nineteen seventy six, But that 129 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: didn't mean it was a straight path from planning to execution. 130 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: A lot was going on in the Soviet Union, including 131 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: a lot of citical battles within the Soviet space program. 132 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,960 Speaker 1: Different leaders within different departments were scrabbling for funding and 133 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: for authority, and it meant that budgets were shifted around 134 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: multiple times, which honestly is not that different from how 135 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: things happen in NASA if we're, you know, really being critical. 136 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:22,680 Speaker 1: During the span of years between nineteen seventy six and 137 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six, changes in the Soviet space program meant 138 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: that funds were pulled from Mirror and redirected towards a 139 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:35,880 Speaker 1: different space project, that of the Barran spacecraft. Now I'm 140 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: not sure that I could do a full tech stuff 141 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: episode about the Barran, but it does merit mentioned. Also, again, 142 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,080 Speaker 1: apologies for my pronunciation. It's going to be terrible and 143 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: that's all on me. But the Barran bu R A 144 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,439 Speaker 1: n was essentially the Soviet equivalent of the Space Shuttle, 145 00:08:56,160 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: a reusable space plane style spacecraft designed to go into 146 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:02,800 Speaker 1: low Earth orbit and then to act as kind of 147 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: a plane upon return to Earth, and most importantly, it 148 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: would be reusable. Now, that project began in the seventies, 149 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: with construction starting in nineteen eighty, and here in America 150 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: we had the space Shuttle program in development at this 151 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: same time. The Soviets couldn't afford to go full steam 152 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: ahead both with Mir and Barran, so in nineteen eighty four, 153 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: the administrators redirected Mer's budget towards Brand's test flights. Now, 154 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,079 Speaker 1: that could have spelled doom for Mere, but then Valentine Glushko, 155 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,800 Speaker 1: a Soviet engineer in charge of the entire space program 156 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,319 Speaker 1: who had been part of some of those political fights 157 00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: within the Soviet space program I mentioned earlier. Anyway, he 158 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: had committed to getting Mire in orbit by the mid eighties, 159 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: so he managed to redirect some funds back into the 160 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,400 Speaker 1: Mir space station program. Brand, by the way, would go 161 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,959 Speaker 1: on to conduct an unscrewed test flight, so no one 162 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: was aboard, but it was successful. It happened without really 163 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: a hitch in, but it didn't really do anything else. 164 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: And uh, the big reason for that had nothing to 165 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: do with the technology. It had everything to do with 166 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: the collapse of the Soviet Union. But a few years 167 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: after getting the thumbs up, the Soviets planned to merge 168 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: Mirror with the Almah's program. Now, if you listen to 169 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: our previous episode in this series, you know that Almah's 170 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: was the designation for a Soviet military space station project. 171 00:10:34,960 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 1: Alma's had previously merged, you know, with Saliot stations to 172 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,880 Speaker 1: three and five. In the Saliot program, we're all meant 173 00:10:42,880 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: to act as military reconnaissance stations. Now, Saliott too had 174 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: had multiple technical problems that led to it re entering 175 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: their atmosphere just a couple of weeks after it first 176 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:58,319 Speaker 1: attained orbit. Fortunately, there were no people aboard. No crew 177 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: had visited the space station at that point, so no 178 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: one was lost as a result of that. Sellot three 179 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: and saw It five had a little more success, though 180 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: very little is known about those stations because the Soviets 181 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: were not super eager to share military secrets with the 182 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: rest of the world. That's not to say that there 183 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: aren't resources out there. There are. I just find a 184 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: lot of them to be questionably reliable. Anyway, as part 185 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: of the Alma's program, engineers designed a spacecraft with the 186 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: designation d O s so d OS one was actually 187 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,560 Speaker 1: used to serve as the Saliot one space station. D 188 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: OS two, three, and four were Saliot two, three and 189 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: five respectively, Salut six and seven were DUS five and 190 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:50,319 Speaker 1: US six, and then the core of the Mirror module 191 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: would be DOS seven. So this was a case of 192 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:58,079 Speaker 1: the engineers taking the designs for an earlier space station 193 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: and then involving them to allow for that modular approach. 194 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: DOES or d OS seven would be the core module, 195 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: the heart and soul of Mirror. This core module would 196 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: also serve as crew quarters. In fact, for a while, 197 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: this would be the entirety of the space station. It 198 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:19,559 Speaker 1: actually had six docking ports, which allowed not just Soya's 199 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 1: capsules to dock, but also cargo ships. Or they would 200 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,640 Speaker 1: serve as the connection point for other Mirror modules, and 201 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: each module could focus on the specific type of science. 202 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: For example, the Kavant one module had equipment to study 203 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: astrophysics from the station, and we'll talk more about that 204 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: in a in a little bit. So as for the 205 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: name Mirror, you might wonder what that means. Well, because 206 00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: you know salute means salute for example, So what does 207 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 1: mirror mean. It's actually a little tricky to translate into English. 208 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: Now you could say it translates to the English word 209 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,640 Speaker 1: for world, or that it translates into the word for peace, 210 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: but it's actually more specific than that. So prior or 211 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: to eighteen sixty one, Russia operated under a serfdom structure 212 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: with lots of Russians as surfs, and approximately one third 213 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,280 Speaker 1: of all Russians were serfs. But Czar Alexander the Second 214 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: decreed that all surfs were freed. That that also meant 215 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,439 Speaker 1: they were free to pay rent to their landlords. Uh, 216 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: the word mirror means a peasant community that owned its 217 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:30,479 Speaker 1: own land, when previously it did not have that ownership. 218 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 1: So there are a few contextual, subtle things going on 219 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: with that name that are difficult to capture with a 220 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: single word in English. So, despite all the obstacles, the 221 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:46,160 Speaker 1: U S s R launched Mir's core module on February twenty, 222 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties six. This was an unscrewed mission to get 223 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: the core into orbit and it was successful, so no 224 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 1: cosmonauts were aboard at this point, but it did deploy 225 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 1: from its launch vehicle and enter a bit. The core 226 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: module resembled the monolithic space stations of the Saliot era. 227 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 1: I mean, after all, they were both based off the 228 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:12,760 Speaker 1: same seed, the Alma's military platform. And it measured about 229 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,920 Speaker 1: forty three ft or thirteen meters in length, and the 230 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,080 Speaker 1: widest part of the stepped cylinder, you know, some parts 231 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: of the cylinder were wider than the others, but the 232 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: widest part was thirteen point eight feet in diameter or 233 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: four point two meters. On either end of the station 234 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: were docking points, and at the forward end. There were 235 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: four more docking points around the circumference of the station, 236 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: so six in total. As I said, just a couple 237 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: of weeks after the core module innered orbit, a space craft, 238 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: a Soyu spacecraft carrying Vladimir Solovyov and Leonard Kidzen docked 239 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: with the station. Actually first it docked with Mirror for 240 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: fifty five days. So they docked with me Or for 241 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 1: fifty five days. Then they left Mirror and they went 242 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: to dock with Saliot seven, which allowed the cosmonauts to 243 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: load equipment from Saliot seven into their soyus T spacecraft, 244 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: and then they carried that back to Mirror after spending 245 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,880 Speaker 1: about two months aboard Saliot seven. And each of these 246 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: trips between space stations took about twenty nine hours to travel, 247 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 1: so more than a full day to get from one 248 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: to the other, and they did it a couple of times. Uh. 249 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:26,880 Speaker 1: It was the first time the spacecraft had docked with 250 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: two space stations during a single mission. The two cosmonauts 251 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,400 Speaker 1: became the first residence of the Mirror space station. And 252 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: again this version of Mirror was just the core module, 253 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 1: so it was a lot like the Saliott stations. In fact, 254 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: the first module to join Mere and expand the station 255 00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't come online until that first module was the Cavant one, 256 00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: which I mentioned earlier, and it was an astrophysics module. Now, 257 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: if you look at illustrations is a Mirror when it was, 258 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: you know, complete, when all the modules had attached to it, 259 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: you would see how complicated this modular approach could become. 260 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: Some folks kind of likened it to tinker toys. The 261 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: Kvan one module connected to the aft end of the 262 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,720 Speaker 1: core module, so opposite where the Soyuz capsule would dock. 263 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: The Soyuz capsule docked in the forward side of the station, 264 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: the Cavant one was attached to the aft side. The 265 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 1: kan one module had its own extra docking port in 266 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: the aft of its module, and it also had a 267 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: pair of very long solar panels, as did the mir Core. 268 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,360 Speaker 1: I should also add that while that's the configuration I 269 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:41,600 Speaker 1: saw on one illustration, the Russians frequently rearranged the modules 270 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: of the Mirror space station, so I don't know if 271 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 1: that was how it was configured throughout the entire history 272 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: of Mirror, because it did move some modules around at 273 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: different times in order to prep space for new modules 274 00:16:54,840 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: joining the station. The kvant one module was built on 275 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: top of an earlier acecraft design, the t K S spacecraft. 276 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: The original purpose for that type of spacecraft was to 277 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:10,919 Speaker 1: serve as a resupply cargo ship for those Alma's military stations, 278 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:14,119 Speaker 1: but the Cavant one was all decked out with scientific gear. 279 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: It had two pressurized compartments in which cosmonauts could work safely, 280 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: and it also had an unpressurized compartment where specific experiments 281 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,959 Speaker 1: could take place and in an airlock. According to a 282 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,920 Speaker 1: few different sources I found, the Cavant one was supposed 283 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,400 Speaker 1: to dock not with Mirror originally but with the Saliot 284 00:17:32,480 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 1: seven space station, and if it had that would have 285 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:39,000 Speaker 1: made Saliot seven the first modular space station in orbit. 286 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: But the development of Kalant one was a rocky journey 287 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: and of itself, and in the process the decision was 288 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,760 Speaker 1: made to switch it over to Mirror instead of Saliot seven. 289 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,639 Speaker 1: The scientific instruments uh aboard the Cavant one included X 290 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: ray telescopes, spectrometers and ultra violet telescope and more. The 291 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:01,200 Speaker 1: Cavant one would study stuff like quasars and neutron stars 292 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:04,879 Speaker 1: and any of those solar panels. Because the equipment aboard 293 00:18:04,880 --> 00:18:07,880 Speaker 1: the vont one required a lot of electricity to use, 294 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,199 Speaker 1: more than what the Mirror core would be able to 295 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: generate on its own and still provide, you know, important 296 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: stuff like life support. It also didn't have its own 297 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,480 Speaker 1: propulsion system, and that made me wonder how the heck 298 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: didn't manage to dock with Mirror if Cavanton one didn't 299 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: have propulsion, how did that work? Well, the answer to 300 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:30,120 Speaker 1: that question will be coming up right after we take 301 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:40,400 Speaker 1: this break, all right, So, how did Cavant one doc 302 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: with Mirror if it didn't have a propulsion system of 303 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:47,080 Speaker 1: its own well. It relied on a special spacecraft called 304 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:51,240 Speaker 1: an f g B tug like a tug boat. Essentially, 305 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: the tug docked with the cavant One and then act 306 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,679 Speaker 1: as the propulsion unit and moved it to dock with 307 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: Mirror before it would disengage fly off. The cavat one 308 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:05,239 Speaker 1: itself was a variation of the f g B, so 309 00:19:05,359 --> 00:19:07,760 Speaker 1: both of these were spacecraft that were based on the 310 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:12,919 Speaker 1: earlier t K S spacecraft. That meant that with f 311 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: g B and the cavanton One together, it was too 312 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: spacecraft joined and one of them was just acting as 313 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,600 Speaker 1: the propulsion system for the joint spacecraft. The docking a 314 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: Cavat one Demir did not go as planned. First there 315 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:32,080 Speaker 1: was a failure of the control system that delayed everything. Then, 316 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,560 Speaker 1: after fixing that, there was an issue with the two 317 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:39,719 Speaker 1: spacecraft actually forming a solid seal as they docked together. 318 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,399 Speaker 1: Something was preventing him from locking in. So the cosmonauts 319 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 1: a board mir donned space suits and had an emergency 320 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:51,639 Speaker 1: e v A or spacewalk, and on that space walk 321 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:54,439 Speaker 1: they found out what the problem was. There was a 322 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:58,399 Speaker 1: trash bag in the docking ring on Mirror that was 323 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,280 Speaker 1: preventing a seal with the Cavat one. That kind of 324 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: raises more questions, but I don't have any answers to them, 325 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,679 Speaker 1: so I'm not gonna bother to ask them anyway. The 326 00:20:08,720 --> 00:20:12,480 Speaker 1: cosmonauts removed the trash bag, and then the two spacecraft 327 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: were finally able to dock together securely. The tug then 328 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 1: disengage from Cavat one, but the whole process meant that 329 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: it no longer really had sufficient propellant to enter into 330 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:26,119 Speaker 1: a controlled de orbiting path, which was what the plan 331 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,880 Speaker 1: had been, so instead, the Soviets decided that they would 332 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: use a shorter boost to push the f GB tug 333 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,840 Speaker 1: up into a higher orbit so that it would become 334 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,280 Speaker 1: a later Earth problem and it would eventually undergo orbital 335 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:44,359 Speaker 1: decay and it would re enter Earth's atmosphere on August 336 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,720 Speaker 1: in an uncontrolled re entry. That those are words that 337 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,919 Speaker 1: you don't ever like to read. Uncontrolled re entry is 338 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 1: not good. Cavanton one would get a lot of upgrades 339 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,040 Speaker 1: over the years, with cosmonauts adding solar arrays or taking 340 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: a raise from other parts of Mirror and then installing 341 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: them in Cavant one, but by the mid nineties most 342 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: of the instrumentation aboard CAVAT one had long since failed, 343 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: gone beyond its useful life, and the module was used 344 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: for and I quote, rubbish storage, which that kind of stings, 345 00:21:17,800 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: doesn't it. But before it became a trash pit in space, 346 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: Cavant one was an active lab and expanded the living 347 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,240 Speaker 1: space of the space station. It also had some impressive 348 00:21:29,359 --> 00:21:34,080 Speaker 1: mechanical stabilizers. They used flywheel mechanisms that would allow the 349 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 1: space station to reorient in space without having to use 350 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:42,359 Speaker 1: propellant and thrusters. Now, the space station did have thrusters 351 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: and it did have propellant, but obviously you want to 352 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,360 Speaker 1: be really judicious with how you use that stuff because 353 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: you have a limited amount on board and it's not 354 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: easy to bring more up to you. So using these 355 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: mechanical systems and sparing the fuel meant that you know, 356 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,840 Speaker 1: you're being much more efficient. It's pretty darn cool. So 357 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: just using physics instead of propellant really interesting. But the 358 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: Cavanton one was just one of the modules that attached 359 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: to MERE. The second one was Prepare Yourself Cavant to 360 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:18,439 Speaker 1: this happened. Now this one would provide more power to 361 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:22,480 Speaker 1: the station. It also included additional flywheel mechanisms for orientation, 362 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:26,399 Speaker 1: and it also had a large airlock, and unlike Cavant one, 363 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:29,560 Speaker 1: it had a propulsion system. So to get into the 364 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: whole development of this about why the Soviets decided okay, 365 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: after Cavat one, this whole f g B tug thing 366 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: is a bad idea. It would take way too long 367 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 1: to get into all the stuff about that, but essentially 368 00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:46,119 Speaker 1: it boils down to them saying, well, if we have 369 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:50,439 Speaker 1: a propulsion system attached to the modules, we can actually 370 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: make more use of more space, which makes way more 371 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 1: sense than to use a tug to push it into 372 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: place and then jettison it. So the Cavant Too would 373 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: be on the first of those types of modules. The 374 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:08,760 Speaker 1: cavant To docked with Mer on December at the axial 375 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,959 Speaker 1: forward port, and then subsequently a manipulator arm on the 376 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: space station unplugged Cavat Too and then plugged it into 377 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 1: its new home, which was on a radio port on 378 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,960 Speaker 1: the Mere Core module. And this is pretty much standard 379 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:27,640 Speaker 1: operating procedure. When modules would join, they would first dock 380 00:23:27,760 --> 00:23:30,719 Speaker 1: with one part of the station. Then the manipulator arm 381 00:23:30,760 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: would end up moving them to its you know, new home. 382 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: In some cases it was a permanent home. In some cases, 383 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: you know, they would rearrange later on. The Covant too 384 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: had shower facilities not too different from what I described 385 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,400 Speaker 1: aboard sky Lab. Also had a water regeneration system. Water 386 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: on space stations is a truly precious commodity, and I'll 387 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 1: talk about how space stations managed that a little bit later. 388 00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: We'll really talk about it more in the I S. 389 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: S episode coming up later on down the line. It 390 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: also had life science and material science experiments aboard the 391 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:10,919 Speaker 1: Cavant to and it expanded the space cosmonauts could occupy 392 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,640 Speaker 1: once again. It gave folks more room in the space station. Now, 393 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 1: the next module to join the party was Crystal or Crystal, 394 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:22,920 Speaker 1: I guess it's k R I S T A L 395 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: L THO. I've also seen spelled with just the one L. 396 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,159 Speaker 1: This happened in now. Originally it carried the designation of 397 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: Kant three, but they decided to change it up. And 398 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,880 Speaker 1: this is the module that had one of its solar 399 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: arrays removed and then later installed in Cavant one. This 400 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: would be a few years after it had, you know, 401 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: merged with Mirror. It also incorporated some docking mechanisms that 402 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,119 Speaker 1: were meant to work with the Barrand spacecraft. So, as 403 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: I mentioned, the brand program would get the acts before 404 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:55,480 Speaker 1: any such space plane could visit Mirror. However, it would 405 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: come in handy when the Space Shuttle, the United States 406 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: Space Shuttle, would visit Mirror. We'll get there like vant 407 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:08,240 Speaker 1: to Crystal or crystal doctor. I can't say crystal without laughing. 408 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: But it docked at a forward axial port on Mirror 409 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:13,840 Speaker 1: and then got shifted around by the manipulator arm. And 410 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: it was a module that moved a couple of times 411 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: during the lifetime of year, usually to allow for some 412 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: other module to join the party. And it included a 413 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: resupply of food, so it had you know, food storage 414 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 1: aboard this module. It also had industrial processing equipment, so 415 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: think of something like a space furnace, something that falls 416 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,159 Speaker 1: into the materials science category. And these experiments would be 417 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,679 Speaker 1: important for the pursuit of long term space exploration. The 418 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: idea being that humans in the future might gather raw 419 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 1: materials from various sources and outer space, such as asteroids, 420 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: and then they might process those materials to make useful 421 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: stuff that they could you know, take advantage of onboard 422 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,920 Speaker 1: as spacecraft. The module also had had an Earth observation camera, 423 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: gamma ray telescope and several spectrometers. And then the fourth 424 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:11,800 Speaker 1: extension of Mirror was Specter, which isn't just a villainous 425 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,040 Speaker 1: organization in James Bond movies, and it's actually spelled differently. 426 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: Specter is spelled spe k t R. It launched in 427 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:24,560 Speaker 1: nine But that is skipping over some really important stuff 428 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,720 Speaker 1: that happened in between the launch of Crystal and Specter. 429 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: So in n when Crystal launched and the know when 430 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: Specter launched, in in between that you had a really 431 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 1: important event take place. This was the dissolution of the 432 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:46,600 Speaker 1: Soviet Union. That process really began in the late eighties 433 00:26:46,960 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: with various territories within the then USSR declaring independence from 434 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 1: the federation, and by late ninety one the situation had 435 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: escalated to the point that the Soviet Union was no 436 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:02,560 Speaker 1: longer a union and it ceased to be Gorbachev, the 437 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 1: president of the USSR, resigned and things were thrown into 438 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:12,879 Speaker 1: uncertainty across all aspects of the various nations, including the 439 00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: Soviet era space program. Now, the original purpose of Specter 440 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,520 Speaker 1: was to be military in nature. It was to be 441 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,959 Speaker 1: a counterpart to the proposed US project of Star Wars, 442 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:26,679 Speaker 1: and boy, haudy, I'm gonna have to do a full 443 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: episode about Star Wars, I think, because that was a 444 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:33,159 Speaker 1: heck of a thing. I remember it as being a 445 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: really big deal when I was growing up and in 446 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: the eighties, and it was a really controversial subject. It 447 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: was also a massive failure in many respects, including as 448 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,160 Speaker 1: a means to deter the Soviet Union from developing long 449 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,080 Speaker 1: range nuclear weapons, the idea being, oh, if we have 450 00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: a system that can shoot down your nuclear weapons, there's 451 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: no need for you to keep building more. That logic 452 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:01,159 Speaker 1: ended up not being effective anyway. Specter was supposed to 453 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: be part of a program that would serve as a 454 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:07,159 Speaker 1: platform for space based weaponry, presumably to shoot down I 455 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: C b M s from the United States headed towards 456 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,560 Speaker 1: Soviet targets, but the collapse of the Soviet Union left 457 00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: the program in limbo. So the partially completed module was 458 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,840 Speaker 1: left sitting in a shop, and the same was true 459 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: for the following module called Paroda. Former Soviet leaders had 460 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 1: lots of stuff to worry about well outside the space program, 461 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,439 Speaker 1: and so both of these modules were effectively mothballed for 462 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: a few years. Then the Americans chimed in. Once the 463 00:28:36,359 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 1: Soviet Union fell apart, America was like, hey, we can 464 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,520 Speaker 1: help you out. So in ninete, NASA reached out to 465 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: Russian leadership and offered to foot the bill to complete 466 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,720 Speaker 1: both Specter and Paroda on the American dime, provided that 467 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: NASA would also be allowed to incorporate several hundred pounds 468 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:59,440 Speaker 1: worth of scientific experiments on the two modules. The military 469 00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,280 Speaker 1: platforms gave way to scientific experiments, including one that would 470 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,479 Speaker 1: allow scientists to expose experiments to the vacuum of space 471 00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:10,000 Speaker 1: using manipulator arms attached to the station, and much of 472 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,800 Speaker 1: the rest of the station got retooled to study atmospheric 473 00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 1: science on Earth. The Russians agreed to this plan, and 474 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:22,560 Speaker 1: they decided they were going to launch Specter in but 475 00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: there were some delays, and this time the delay was because, 476 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: and I am not kidding about this, the American equipment 477 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: destined to be installed Inspector got held up in customs. 478 00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: As such, the module was not ready for launch until 479 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:40,959 Speaker 1: the spring of nine, and it took off on May 480 00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:44,800 Speaker 1: twenty of that year. The final module to join Mere 481 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: was called pi Roda, and it was also meant to 482 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: at least be partly a military platform for mere serving 483 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 1: in a surveillance function, and some of the states in 484 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: the USSR had provided instruments meant to further scientific studies, 485 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: but upon the dis aolution of the Soviet Union, Russia 486 00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:05,880 Speaker 1: was left solely in charge of Mirror, and the other 487 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,000 Speaker 1: former Soviet states saw their experiments withdrawn from the module. 488 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: A German multi spectral scanner was added to it, but 489 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,640 Speaker 1: then all the funding for the program got the Axe 490 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: and Paroda joined Specter in storage until the Yanks came 491 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:22,400 Speaker 1: along and offered to pay for the rest of the 492 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: construction and development costs. The additional weight of the American 493 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: experiments on board Paroda necessitated a change in the spacecraft. 494 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,640 Speaker 1: Originally it was going to carry an additional solar array 495 00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:37,240 Speaker 1: in the forward section of the craft, but they Russians 496 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,880 Speaker 1: removed that in order to conserve mass, and it would 497 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,760 Speaker 1: the solar array would launch on a later cargo vessel 498 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:48,320 Speaker 1: and cosmonauts would install it during a spacewalk. The experiments 499 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: that did make it aboard Paroda concentrated on stuff like 500 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: studying the relationship between Earth's atmosphere and its oceans, measuring 501 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: land characteristics from space, measuring the roughness of the sea surface, 502 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: measuring optical effects through the atmosphere as well as measuring 503 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,640 Speaker 1: trace elements in the atmosphere, and finally studying how the 504 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:15,760 Speaker 1: surface of the sea reflects microwave radiation. And with Paroda 505 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,719 Speaker 1: mirror was complete. You had the core module and you 506 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,480 Speaker 1: had the other six modules attached to it. As I 507 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, occasionally the Russians would use the manipulator arm 508 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,120 Speaker 1: on the outside of the station to kind of rearrange 509 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:33,320 Speaker 1: where the modules were. Those aboard the space station would 510 00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: inhabit the core module. They would seal off whichever modules 511 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: were being moved. And like I said, if you look 512 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: in illustration to mirror, you'll see how the pieces all 513 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: connected in various ways to one another to create the 514 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: full station. It's pretty nifty. I also like that you 515 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,600 Speaker 1: could be working in an orientation that's ninety degrees from 516 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:54,920 Speaker 1: someone else in another part of the station. But because 517 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,160 Speaker 1: there's not really an up or down when you're in 518 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: microgravity from your own perspective, it would like the other 519 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: person was, you know, at a ninety degree angle from you, 520 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: so their sideways, but they would feel the same way 521 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 1: about you, because again up and down a relative. Paroda 522 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:14,440 Speaker 1: would dock with Mirror on April twenty six nine and 523 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: it got to its final location quote unquote final location 524 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:22,520 Speaker 1: on the te So something else happened before Mirror was 525 00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: made complete with the addition of Specter and Paroda. And 526 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,960 Speaker 1: that's the Shuttle Mirror missions. At least some of them 527 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: happened before that. Now. I mentioned earlier that under Soviet control, 528 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,880 Speaker 1: mir had a special airlock system, sometimes called the androgynous 529 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: peripheral assembly system or a PASS a p a S. 530 00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:45,600 Speaker 1: After the dissolution of the U S s R, there 531 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: was an interest in building a stronger link between Russian 532 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 1: and American space programs, with the US proposing links with 533 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: Mirror using the newly launched space Shuttle program. So Russia 534 00:32:56,720 --> 00:33:00,480 Speaker 1: sent an a PASS to NASA, and NASA resaw its 535 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:04,640 Speaker 1: incorporation into the payload bay of Space Shuttle Atlantis. The 536 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:07,960 Speaker 1: Shuttle Mirror mission had three parts to it. One was 537 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: that a cosmonaut would join an American crew aboard a 538 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,680 Speaker 1: space shuttle. That happened when Saragei Krikalev joined Space Shuttle 539 00:33:15,720 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: Mission STS sixty that was on board Space Shuttle Discovery. 540 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:25,200 Speaker 1: That mission lasted eight days. The second component was that 541 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: an American astronaut would visit mir That honor fell to 542 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: Norman E. Thaggard, who boarded a Saya's spacecraft in Russia 543 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:38,040 Speaker 1: to rendezvous with Mirror in March of nineteen. His mission 544 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: lasted one fifteen days total and included the arrival of 545 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: both the Specter module as well as a visit from 546 00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:47,840 Speaker 1: Space Shuttle Atlantis. And that was the third part of 547 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: the Shuttle Mirror program, the docking of an American space 548 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: shuttle with the Russian space station. I'll explain more after 549 00:33:55,440 --> 00:34:04,880 Speaker 1: we take this quick break. You know, one thing I 550 00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,719 Speaker 1: haven't covered yet about Mirror is that the crew aboard 551 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:11,440 Speaker 1: the space station could fluctuate over time. You could have 552 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,640 Speaker 1: cruise from one Soyuz capsule mixed with cruise from the 553 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,680 Speaker 1: previous capsule. Uh, and so there were times where the 554 00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:24,040 Speaker 1: space station was hosting more people than other times. When 555 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:27,840 Speaker 1: Thaggard and his crewmates joined the station in n it 556 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:31,840 Speaker 1: brought the total population up to thirteen thirteen folks and 557 00:34:31,960 --> 00:34:35,040 Speaker 1: only two toilets. Don't worry, We'll be sure to cover 558 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:39,920 Speaker 1: the toilet situation in this episode. Before long, however, members 559 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: of the Mere seventeen crew because they were all numbered 560 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,000 Speaker 1: by how many missions were visiting the station, so Mere 561 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: seventeen that crew left the station to return home, and 562 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 1: the cosmonauts assigned to the Mirror eighteen mission stayed aboard Mirror. 563 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:59,400 Speaker 1: One of those to return home was Valerie Vladimirovich Poliakov. 564 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,920 Speaker 1: He had been a board Near for an astounding fourteen months, 565 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,920 Speaker 1: one year, two months, setting a world record that has 566 00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: yet to be beaten. When he joined Mire, he was 567 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,960 Speaker 1: part of the fifteen crew of that space station, and 568 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:16,279 Speaker 1: he left as part of the seventeenth crew, so he 569 00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:19,719 Speaker 1: was parts of Cruise fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen, so he 570 00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:21,880 Speaker 1: had been there for a while. Also. That was his 571 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: second trip of Tamir. His first one was back in 572 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: Night when he was part of Cruise Mirror three and 573 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,719 Speaker 1: Mirror four. He had stayed up there for two forty 574 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:35,960 Speaker 1: days on that first go round. Atlantis launched on June 575 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: twenty nine and carried two cosmonauts, Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Buderin, 576 00:35:43,440 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 1: who would transfer to Mirror and stay on as members 577 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:50,239 Speaker 1: of Mirror nineteen. The Shuttle docked with Mirror two days 578 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:53,839 Speaker 1: after the launch, and it went smoothly. It connected through 579 00:35:54,040 --> 00:35:57,640 Speaker 1: the Crystal Module and the rest of the station, and 580 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:00,440 Speaker 1: all ten cosmonauts and astronauts aboard other th in the 581 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 1: Core module to celebrate the occasion. The Shuttle remained docked 582 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 1: with Mirror for several days, leaving with the Mirror eighteen 583 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: crew as part of the Shuttle crew on July four, 584 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:14,120 Speaker 1: and the Mirror nineteen crew boarded their Saya's capsule and 585 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:18,240 Speaker 1: disengaged from Mirror temporarily in order to record the process 586 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,759 Speaker 1: of the Shuttle departing the station. So we actually have 587 00:36:20,840 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: pictures and video of the Space Shuttle departing Mirror because 588 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,440 Speaker 1: some cosmonauts got into the Saya's capsule and blasted off 589 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: for a little ways to get those pictures. Once that 590 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:34,920 Speaker 1: was all done, the Saya's capsule returned to dock with Miror, 591 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:37,359 Speaker 1: and the Shuttle then moved off to conduct a few 592 00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 1: more experiments before it ultimately returned to Earth. Atlantis would 593 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,719 Speaker 1: take return trips to Mirror six more times, so Space 594 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:50,120 Speaker 1: Shuttle Atlantis visited me Or seven times total. That included 595 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,320 Speaker 1: a mission that brought astronaut Shannon Lucid to the station 596 00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: as part of STS seventy six. Lucid would set a 597 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:59,360 Speaker 1: record for the longest stay in space by an American 598 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,319 Speaker 1: up to that point, and also the longest stay for 599 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,920 Speaker 1: a woman. During her stay at Mirror, Paroda would end 600 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:09,160 Speaker 1: up joining the station and complete it. Lucid would also 601 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: plant a crop of wheat, and they would ultimately go 602 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:16,799 Speaker 1: from being a seedling to producing seeds of its own. 603 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:19,000 Speaker 1: It was the first example of someone taking a crop 604 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:23,200 Speaker 1: through the full life cycle in space. The wheat would 605 00:37:23,239 --> 00:37:29,280 Speaker 1: return to Earth aboard another Atlantis mission STS one. Space 606 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:33,160 Speaker 1: shuttles Discovery and Endeavor would also dock with Mirror once 607 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:36,920 Speaker 1: each before the space station would be retired. All missions 608 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: took place between n and During that time, Mirror experienced 609 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:45,719 Speaker 1: a major and potentially catastrophic emergency, a couple of them, 610 00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:51,360 Speaker 1: actually so. In February, a backup oxygen generating device caught 611 00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,440 Speaker 1: fire on the station. Now, as you might imagine, a 612 00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:58,759 Speaker 1: fire on the space station is incredibly dangerous. According to 613 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:02,360 Speaker 1: Russian authorities, the fire only lasted less than two minutes, 614 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,000 Speaker 1: but those aboard Mirror said it was more like fourteen minutes. 615 00:38:06,880 --> 00:38:09,560 Speaker 1: He generated a lot of smoke, and those aboard had 616 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:12,279 Speaker 1: to put on respirators in order to breathe. Also, they 617 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,040 Speaker 1: found out that some of the respirators proved to be nonfunctional. 618 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,840 Speaker 1: Not great. The smoke blocked an exit path to the 619 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,360 Speaker 1: Soya's capsule, so there was no escape from the station. 620 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 1: It made an escape impossible because your pathway was blocked 621 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,160 Speaker 1: to your one way home. Ultimately, the crew was able 622 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 1: to extinguish the fire using like a wet towel and 623 00:38:31,719 --> 00:38:34,799 Speaker 1: a fire extinguisher, but they had to continue to wear 624 00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 1: respirators for like forty five minutes or so in order 625 00:38:37,560 --> 00:38:41,040 Speaker 1: for the smoke to clear out. Another serious accident happened 626 00:38:41,080 --> 00:38:45,319 Speaker 1: on June twenty seven. A cargo spaceship collided with the 627 00:38:45,400 --> 00:38:50,120 Speaker 1: Specter module during docking procedures, and the collision created a 628 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:54,400 Speaker 1: small hole in the exterior of Specter, which caused Spector 629 00:38:54,480 --> 00:39:00,120 Speaker 1: to de pressurize. Michael Fole, and American artist inside Specter 630 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,440 Speaker 1: at the time of this crash, felt the pressure in 631 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:06,640 Speaker 1: his ears change. That was his warning to get the 632 00:39:06,640 --> 00:39:10,520 Speaker 1: heck out of a dodge or Specter, and he exited 633 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,759 Speaker 1: the module and the Mirror crew sealed Specter off from 634 00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:16,920 Speaker 1: the rest of the station. The collision also caused damage 635 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,600 Speaker 1: to some of the station's solar panels, so the crew 636 00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:21,799 Speaker 1: ended up turning off some of the experiments in order 637 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:26,560 Speaker 1: to conserve power. Fortunately, in neither of those accidents was 638 00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:30,040 Speaker 1: there any loss of life, and the experiences really drove 639 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,640 Speaker 1: home the need to develop efficient and effective emergency procedures 640 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:37,440 Speaker 1: for cosmonauts and astronauts to follow should the worse happen. 641 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:40,960 Speaker 1: The last crew to visit Mirror did so in April 642 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:45,480 Speaker 1: two thousand, journeying to an empty Space Shuttle, So the 643 00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:51,080 Speaker 1: previous crew, which had left in August of actually ended 644 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:55,960 Speaker 1: a nearly ten years streak of continuous occupation of the 645 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:59,480 Speaker 1: space station. Not continuous with the same people. Obviously you 646 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:03,480 Speaker 1: had different cruise coming in and relieving others, but I 647 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:05,920 Speaker 1: think it was like a week and one day short 648 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:11,880 Speaker 1: of a full ten years of continuous occupation when the 649 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:15,960 Speaker 1: last crew had left. Then this space station remained empty 650 00:40:15,960 --> 00:40:19,279 Speaker 1: and dormant for a good long while until April two 651 00:40:19,280 --> 00:40:25,919 Speaker 1: thousand and This was from a private space company. Mere 652 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:29,480 Speaker 1: Corps was the name of the company. Because funding had 653 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,200 Speaker 1: run out in Russia to have a state backed space 654 00:40:34,239 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 1: agency focusing on Mirror. At this point, attention was turning 655 00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:40,840 Speaker 1: towards a different space station, the I S S, the 656 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:43,640 Speaker 1: International Space Station, which we'll talk about in the next episode. 657 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:47,240 Speaker 1: So the mission that flew up to Mirror in April 658 00:40:47,239 --> 00:40:50,560 Speaker 1: two thousand was, as I said, a privately funded mission 659 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:54,080 Speaker 1: from mir Corps. The two cosmonaut crew was to conduct 660 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:59,120 Speaker 1: repairs and reactivate the station, with the hope that private 661 00:40:59,520 --> 00:41:03,480 Speaker 1: company could keep Mirror in operation. However, mir had already 662 00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:07,160 Speaker 1: lived well beyond its expected lifespan. The station was going 663 00:41:07,200 --> 00:41:09,680 Speaker 1: to need a lot of repairs and the investment would 664 00:41:09,719 --> 00:41:12,680 Speaker 1: be considerable, and with the I S S taking form, 665 00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,120 Speaker 1: it was just too hard to sell, and mire Core 666 00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:17,439 Speaker 1: could not get the funds to pay for anything more 667 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,359 Speaker 1: than the first mission in two thousand. So Mirror had 668 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:23,120 Speaker 1: run out of time and money, and in two thousand 669 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,440 Speaker 1: one it would d orbit like sky Lab. There was 670 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: some worry here on Earth that Mirror might end up 671 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:34,200 Speaker 1: crashing down on some populated area, and Mirror was much 672 00:41:34,680 --> 00:41:38,600 Speaker 1: much bigger than sky Lab, but Russian engineers took steps 673 00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:41,320 Speaker 1: to have a controlled d orbit, and the station ultimately 674 00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:46,040 Speaker 1: broke apart above the South Pacific. All Right, I also 675 00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: promised that I would talk about pooping on Mirror. I 676 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:51,359 Speaker 1: mentioned that mir had two toilets. One was in the 677 00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:54,080 Speaker 1: core module, which is good news because you know, it 678 00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:56,719 Speaker 1: was a while before cavant One joined Mirror and made 679 00:41:56,719 --> 00:41:59,719 Speaker 1: it a modular space station, and the second toilet was 680 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:03,319 Speaker 1: lowcated in covant to Now, if you look at pictures 681 00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:06,000 Speaker 1: of a mere toilet, you had best prepare yourself for 682 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:09,319 Speaker 1: some psychological trauma. It does not look much like a 683 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:12,200 Speaker 1: toilet at all. It looks like a canister that has 684 00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:14,520 Speaker 1: some sort of tube thing in the front of the 685 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:17,920 Speaker 1: canisters opening. So to use the facilities, you would position 686 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:21,560 Speaker 1: yourself on. The toilet had a fastening system or straining 687 00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:25,040 Speaker 1: system with restraining bars to keep you sealed to the seat. 688 00:42:25,160 --> 00:42:27,680 Speaker 1: Very important. You don't want stuff, you know, floating around. 689 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:31,480 Speaker 1: We had already had experiences with that in previous space missions. 690 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:36,240 Speaker 1: The toilet had a fan to create airflow to help 691 00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:39,600 Speaker 1: with feces collection, and so the feces would go into 692 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:42,839 Speaker 1: collection bags, which in turn would go into an aluminum 693 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:46,680 Speaker 1: container for storage. But urine was different. This is where 694 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,880 Speaker 1: that tube comes in. It was a hose and you 695 00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:53,040 Speaker 1: had urine funnel adapters that you would attach to the 696 00:42:53,160 --> 00:42:56,000 Speaker 1: end of the hose, and unlike other space toilets in 697 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:59,879 Speaker 1: the past, this one had adapters designed so that both 698 00:43:00,040 --> 00:43:02,920 Speaker 1: men and women could make use of the toilet. No 699 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:06,600 Speaker 1: more of that sexist male only stuff here. It was 700 00:43:06,640 --> 00:43:09,960 Speaker 1: not a no girls allowed kind of thing, which you know, 701 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:13,640 Speaker 1: it was refreshing really Now. The hose would collect the 702 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:16,920 Speaker 1: urine and would send it on to a watery recovery system. 703 00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,360 Speaker 1: And you might think, what the what, but yeah, water 704 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:24,120 Speaker 1: recovery was a big part of Mirror, and it remains 705 00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:27,080 Speaker 1: an important part of space travel in general. We need 706 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:30,000 Speaker 1: water to survive and there's no easy way to get 707 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:34,239 Speaker 1: additional water when you're in space, so you have to 708 00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,760 Speaker 1: make the most with what you have. You want to 709 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:39,520 Speaker 1: use what you have as much as you can, and 710 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:42,879 Speaker 1: that means you need systems in place to collect wastewater, 711 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,719 Speaker 1: treat it, and then recycle it for further use, including 712 00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:50,560 Speaker 1: as drinking water. Now, another use of water on board 713 00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:54,319 Speaker 1: Mirror was to run an electric current through water. This 714 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:57,839 Speaker 1: is a process called electrolysis. The result is that electricity 715 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,399 Speaker 1: breaks the molecular bonds between hydrogen and oxygen. Now, this 716 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:04,360 Speaker 1: is one way to generate oxygen in space, though it 717 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,640 Speaker 1: does mean relying on water in order to do that. 718 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:11,400 Speaker 1: Water recycling involves moving wastewater through a series of filters 719 00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:15,319 Speaker 1: to remove all the contaminants, leaving pure water behind, and 720 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:17,600 Speaker 1: the I S S would use a similar approach, creating 721 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:20,560 Speaker 1: a closed loop system to capture water not just from urine, 722 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:23,840 Speaker 1: but also from sweat and even water vapor from breathing. 723 00:44:24,520 --> 00:44:27,560 Speaker 1: We'll talk about that in the I S S episode. Well, 724 00:44:27,719 --> 00:44:30,080 Speaker 1: the Mirror space station would come hurtling down in two 725 00:44:30,120 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: thousand one, part of it lives on in our next episode, 726 00:44:33,080 --> 00:44:35,359 Speaker 1: when we do talk about the International Space Station, we'll 727 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:39,640 Speaker 1: learn about a module very similar to Mirror's core module 728 00:44:39,920 --> 00:44:42,200 Speaker 1: that serves as the heart of the I S S. 729 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:45,319 Speaker 1: As for what we learned from here, well, apart from 730 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:48,120 Speaker 1: all the secret stuff that got buried in Soviet files, 731 00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,200 Speaker 1: we learned a lot about the long term effects that 732 00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:54,440 Speaker 1: being in space can have on the human body. We 733 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: observed how the body can change over time in microgravity, 734 00:44:58,280 --> 00:45:02,040 Speaker 1: including stuff like bone and muscle loss. The things we 735 00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:04,760 Speaker 1: learned will be crucial should we ever take the step 736 00:45:04,800 --> 00:45:08,759 Speaker 1: toward establishing long term space habitats on the Moon or 737 00:45:08,840 --> 00:45:11,200 Speaker 1: on Mars. Not to mention just you know, handling the 738 00:45:11,239 --> 00:45:14,400 Speaker 1: effects of space travel between Earth and Mars, because that 739 00:45:14,480 --> 00:45:17,479 Speaker 1: journey alone takes around, you know, more than half a year. 740 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,080 Speaker 1: So we learned a lot from mirror even beyond, like 741 00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:25,560 Speaker 1: all the the super shady stuff that the Soviets were doing, 742 00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:29,200 Speaker 1: or at least the semi shady stuff. Um and and 743 00:45:29,239 --> 00:45:32,120 Speaker 1: obviously a lot of that learning continues on with the 744 00:45:32,120 --> 00:45:35,520 Speaker 1: International Space stations. So in our next episode we will 745 00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:40,359 Speaker 1: turn our our thoughts and eyes and ears towards the 746 00:45:40,440 --> 00:45:42,680 Speaker 1: I S S and we'll also talk about a couple 747 00:45:42,680 --> 00:45:45,759 Speaker 1: of other space stations and uh and talk about what 748 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:48,840 Speaker 1: the future holds. Oh and I'll also cover the space 749 00:45:48,880 --> 00:45:53,399 Speaker 1: station that never was a k A Freedom, but that's 750 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:55,840 Speaker 1: in the next one. If you have suggestions for topics 751 00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:57,799 Speaker 1: I should cover in tech Stuff, reach out to me. 752 00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:00,240 Speaker 1: The best way to do that is over on Twitter. 753 00:46:00,480 --> 00:46:02,399 Speaker 1: The handle we use for the show is called tech 754 00:46:02,600 --> 00:46:05,920 Speaker 1: Stuff H s W and I'll talk to you again 755 00:46:06,920 --> 00:46:15,760 Speaker 1: really soon. Yeah. Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 756 00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:18,840 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I 757 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,160 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 758 00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:23,160 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.