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Spacecraft

Mir Space Station - Kristall Module

Kristall means "crystal," and a main purpose of this module was to develop biological and materials production technologies in the space environment. These included semi-conductors, cellular substances and medicines. Kristall also supported astrophysical and technical experiments. It had a radial docking port, originally designed as a means of docking the later canceled Russian Buran shuttle orbiter and used for the first Shuttle-Mir rendezvous in 1995 (STS-71). Added in 1990, the 19.5-ton Kristall measured 4.3 meters by 11.9 meters long, with 60.8 cubic meters of volume and a 36-meter solar array.

More detailed discussions of the Mir space station and its modules can be found in David Portree's Mir Hardware Heritage, available on this Web site in PDF format.

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Space Shuttle Orbiter | Mir Space Station


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