Spektr

:"For the experimental black metal/black ambient band, see Spektr (band)."

Spektr (Russian: "Спектр"; English: Spectrum) (TKM-O, 77KSO, 11F77O) was the fifth module of the Mir Space Station. The module was designed for remote observation of Earth's environment containing atmospheric and surface research equipment. Spektr also had four solar arrays which generated about half of the station's electrical power.

Development

The Spektr module was originally developed as part of a top-secret military program code-named "Oktant." It was planned to carry experiments with space borne surveillance and test antimissile defense. The surveillance instruments were mounted on the exterior of the module opposite the docking port. Also in this location were two launchers for artificial targets. The heart of the Spektr payload was an experimental optical telescope code-named "Pion.”

Instrument list:

* 286K binocular radiometer
* Astra 2 - monitored atmospheric trace constituents, Mir environment
* Balkan 1 lidar - measures upper cloud altitude. Used a 5320 angstrom laser source, provided 4.5 m resolution
* EFO 2 photometer
* KOMZA - interstellar gas detector
* MIRAS absorption spectrometer - measured neutral atmospheric composition
* Phaza spectrometer - surface studies. Examined wavelengths between 0.340-285 micrometer, and provides 200 km resolution
* Taurus/Grif - monitored Mir's induced X/gamma ray background
* VRIZ UV spectroradiometer

These experiments would have been a continuation of the research a top-secret TKS-M module, which docked to Salyut 7 in 1985. However, with the end of the Cold War and the shrinking of Russia’s space budget, the module was stuck on the ground.

In the mid-1990s with the return of US-Russian cooperation in space, NASA agreed to provide funds to complete the Spektr and Priroda modules in exchange for having 600 to 700 kg of US experiments installed. The Oktava military component was replaced with a conical mounting area for two additional solar arrays. The airlock for the Oktava targets to be used instead to expose experiments to the vacuum of space.

Once in orbit, Spektr served as the living quarters for American astronauts until the collision in late June 1997

Collision

On June 25, 1997, the Progress M-34 spacecraft crashed into Spektr while maneuvering for a docking with the Kvant-1 module. The collision damaged one of Spektr's solar arrays and punctured the hull, depressurizing the module. The module was sealed off from the rest of the station to prevent depressurization of the entire Mir station, but required cutting off the power cables from Spektr's solar panels, which had to be cut manually with fire axes. An internal spacewalk in the Spektr module in August 1997 by cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov, from Soyuz TM-26, succeeded in restoring those connections by modifying the hatch to allow them pass through in the closed position. In a second internal spacewalk in October they connected two of the panels to a computer system to allow them to be controlled remotely and align with the Sun. These modifications allowed power generation to return to approximately 70% of the pre-collision generation capability. cite web
title = Take a Tour of Mir: Spektr
publisher = WGBH Educational Foundation
date = November 2000
url = http://www.astronautix.com/craft/spektr.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-16 ]

Spektr was left depressurized and isolated from the remainder of the Mir complex.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_spektr.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_spektr.html] Contains diagrams, pictures and background info.
* [http://www.astronautix.com/craft/spektr.htm http://www.astronautix.com/craft/spektr.htm] Contains design history and equipment information.
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mir/spektr.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mir/spektr.html] Brief in orbit history.
*Gunter's Space Page - information on [http://www.skyrocket.de/space/doc_sdat/spektr.htm Spektr]

References