was the first consistently inhabited long-term research station space. Launched into orbit on February 20, 1986, the station was almost continuously inhabited until March 23, 2001, when it was de-orbited. In total, Mir spent 5,519 days in Earth orbit, and was occupied for 4,592 of them. The only interruption in occupancy came in 1989, when a Soyuz spacecraft was damaged on the ground and rendered unable to fly, keeping the replacement crew from arriving at Mir before the on-board crew left the station.

Mir, which translates into English as "peace," "world," and/or "village," was constructed by connecting seven different modules, each launched into orbit separately. The first module, known as the Core, housed the main living quarters. All six of the other modules were attached to the Core. Five of the additional modules housed various scientific instruments, while the sixth served as a docking port for the Space Shuttle.

Over the course of its lifetime, Mir hosted 125 cosmonauts, astronauts, and international crew members. A total of 31 spacecraft docked with the station during this period, including 9 Space Shuttles, as did another 64 unmanned cargo vessels. The record for longest-duration space flight was first broken by cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko, who spent 326 days aboard Mir in 1987. That record was subsequently broken by Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov, who spent 366 days aboard the station in 1987-1988. The ultimate record was set by Valery Polyakov, who was stationed on Mir from January 7, 1994 to March 22, 1995, a total of 438 days. Sergei Avdeyev holds the record for total time in space, 747 days 14 hours 12 minutes (over the course of three missions).

Chronology of Major Events

February 20, 1986 The Core Module was launched into earth orbit. Although not shown live, it is the first launch of any Soviet space vehicle to be televised.

March 13, 1986 Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyev were launched to a rendezvous with Mir. It is the first piloted launch of a Soviet space vehicle not involving foreign participation to be