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Priroda

Existing plans call for the launch in late 1995 of the Priroda (Nature) auxiliary module to augment substantially the Earth observation capabilities of the Mir space station complex. With a basic structure mass of 19.7 metric tons, a volume of more than 66 ma, a length of approximately 12 m (without solar panel deployment) and a maximum diameter of 4.35 m, Priroda is the most sophisticated and complex Earth observation spacecraft undertaken by the Russian Federation. The overall mission objectives of the Priroda module are the:

• "determination of the atmospheric-ocean system characteristics;
• measurements of the land local characteristics;
• measurement of optical characteristics of the atmosphere;
• investigation of the sea surface roughness state;
• comparison of radiation and reflection characteristics of the sea surface in the microwave range;
• and measurements of the concentrations of trace gases in the atmosphere."

The Delta-2P and Ikar-N radiometers and the Travers synthetic aperture radar have been designed by the Moscow Energy Institute, while the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Space Research is responsible for the Obzor spectrometer. The Moscow Energy Institute has also developed the 2.25-cm wavelength Greben radar altimeter which will provide precise altitude data with an accuracy of 0.1 m for correlation with the Earth observation systems. The MSU-E and MSU-SK multi-spectral scanners are being provided by the Space Instrument Building NPO, and the Istok-1 spectrometer is a product of the Academy's Institute of Physics.

The module will be powered by a 35 m² array with a generating capacity of 4.2 kW but an average daily power availability of only 0.5-1.0 kW. Peak loads of up to 7 kW will be possible. Finally, the Centaur data acquisition system, similar to the Okean Condor system, will be operated for the collection of environmental information from various terrestrial sites. The Centaur system was created by the Moscow Energy Institute (References 717-719).

717. N. A. Armand and B. G. Kutuza, "International Space Project of the Earth Remote Sensing 'Priroda"', Paper IAF-90-103, 41st Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, 1990.

718. "77 KSI Research Module, Purpose and Description", M. V. Khrunichev Machine Building Plant, 1989.

719. B. Z. Petrenko and S. V. Sokolovskiy, Issledovanive Zemli Iz Kosmosa, March-April 1989, p. 123.

Sources and Resources

• Adapted from: Europe and Asia in Space 1993-1994, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold [Kaman Sciences / Air Force Phillips Laboratory]

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