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Kristall

Six months after the arrival of Kvant 2, the Kristall module became the newest component of the Mir complex. Kristall possessed the same mass and diameter as Kvant 2 but was a little shorter at 11.9 m. In place of the Kvant 2 airlock chamber, Kristall was equipped with a new multiple docking adapter employing two APAS89 androgynous ports for mating with the Buran space shuttle and a new model of Soyuz TM.

The primary scientific payload was devoted to microgravity research. Kristall also carried the Priroda 5 high resolution camera and the Svet greenhouse for botanical research. The two solar arrays on Kristall were of a new design with a total 8.4 kW capacity, variable deployment positioning, and the ability to be removed and relocated to another part of the space station (References 87, 89-90).

By the end of 1990 the Mir space station's normal configuration consisted of six linked spacecraft: Mir, Kvant 1, Kvant 2, Kristall, a Soyuz TM, and a Progress M. Together they boasted a total mass of about 90 metric tons and a habitable volume of 270 m³. Further additions were installed during EVAs (Reference 108).

87. V. A. Pivnyuk, Space Station Handbook, Matson Press, 1992.

88. Yu. Semenov and V. Timchenko, Pravda, 5 August 1987, p. 3.

89. W.R. Matson, ed., Cosmonautics. A Colorful History, Cosmos Books, 1994.

90. S.P. Korolev Space Corporation Energia, RKK Energiya, 1994.

108. For additional historical and operation details of the Soviet/Russian space station programs see,

• User's Guide. Permanent Orbital Modular Complex "Mir", undated.

• A Russian Space Station: The Mir Complex, TD501, Mission Operations Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center, 10 February 1994.

• D.S. Portree, Mirardware Heritage, RP 1357, NASA Johnson Space Center, March 1995.

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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