The Mir Environmental Effects Payload ( MEEP ) was a set of four experiments installed on the Russian space station Mir from March 1996 to October 1997 to study the effects of space debris impacts and exposure to the space environment on a variety of materials. The materials used in the experiments were being considered for use on the International Space Station , and by exposing them at a similar orbital altitude to that flown by the ISS, the experiments provided an assessment of the performance of those materials in a similar space environment. MEEP also fulfilled the need to examine the occurrence and effects of man-made debris and natural micrometeoroids through capture and impact studies. The experiments were installed on the Mir docking module during STS-76 , and retrieved during STS-86 .
22-453: MEEP consisted of four separate experiments mounted in four separate Passive Experiment Carriers (PEC) installed on Mir' s docking module . Each PEC consisted of three components; the experiment carrier, which contained the experiment itself, the sidewall carrier, which kept the PEC secure in the payload bay of the space shuttle during launch and return, and the handrail clamp, which was used to attach
44-542: A 2.7 m (9 ft) wide and 18 m (59 ft) long array mounted to a Russian-built frame, and was instrumented to provide data for models being used to design the solar arrays for the ISS. The second array was the Russian-built MSB array, which had originally been intended to be launched as part of Priroda before the redesign of the module deleted it. It was installed on Kvant -1 during EVA 5 of EO-24 , replacing
66-452: A similar orbital altitude to that flown by the station, the experiments provided an assessment of the performance of those materials in a similar space environment. MEEP also fulfilled the need to examine the occurrence and effects of man-made debris and natural micrometeoroids through capture and impact studies. The experiments were installed on the docking module during STS-76 , and retrieved during STS-86 . Mir-2 Mir -2
88-460: The Zvezda module of the ISS. Its design lineage extends back to the original Salyut stations. The prototype of the central module was as Polyus . Mir -2 would be capable of docking at least four modules in ordinary operation. Designated as OSETS (Orbital Assembly and Operations Centre). The station would be built in a 65 degree orbit and consist of 90 ton modules. This would involve launch of
110-537: The Kristall array which had previously been mounted there. The module was also used as a mounting point for the Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP), a set of four experiments intended to study the effects of space debris impacts and exposure to the space environment on a variety of materials. The materials used in the experiments were being considered for use on the ISS, and by exposing them at
132-769: The Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station as Pirs ). When the Shuttle- Mir programme began, engineers realised that in order to enable US space shuttles to dock to Mir , the Kristall module would have to be relocated to the forward port of the core module and back to its own lateral port each time a shuttle docked, a process which was not only time consuming but would also be entirely reliant on Kristall' s Lyappa arm , which, should it fail, would prevent any further shuttle missions to
154-681: The DOS-8, after which the Buran shuttle would grapple the module, rendezvous with Mir , and attach it to the old DOS-7 base block. This plan was later altered so that DOS-8 would maneuver and dock itself to Mir . It would remain attached for two years. The station would consist of the DOS-8 core module and a cross beam called the NEP ( Science Power Platform ). This was equipped with MSB retractable solar panels, Sfora thruster packages and small scientific packages. Four 3 to 4 ton modules were planned: Russian elements of
176-624: The MEEP experiments, a solar array which had been exposed to the space environment for more than ten years was removed from the core module of Mir in November 1997, and returned to Earth in January 1998 on STS-89 . The experiments were then inspected and studied by teams of space environmental effects investigators for micrometeoroid and space debris effects, space exposure effects on materials, and electrical performance. Also MEEPS can trace their inception to
198-497: The PEC to the docking module. The first experiment, Polished Plate Micrometeoroid and Debris (PPMD), consisted of gold, aluminium, and zinc plates and studied how often space debris hit the station, the sizes and sources of the debris, and the damage the debris might do on hitting a space station. The second, the Orbital Debris Collector (ODC), captured orbital debris in aerogel cells for return to Earth to determine
220-545: The Passive Optical Sample Array (POSA) sample trays flown on STS-1 and STS-2 , and their successor Effects of Oxygen Interaction with Materials (EOIM) on STS-3 and STS-5 . Mir Docking Module The Mir Docking Module , formally known as the Stykovochnyy Otsek ( SO ; Russian : стыковочный отсек , lit. 'Docking compartment'; GRAU index 316GK ), was the sixth module of
242-548: The Russian space station Mir , launched in November 1995 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis . The module, built by Energia , was designed to help simplify space shuttle dockings to Mir during the Shuttle- Mir program , preventing the need for the periodic relocation of the Kristall module necessary for dockings prior to the compartment's arrival. The module was also used to transport two new photovoltaic arrays to
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#1732881332850264-494: The first to make use of NASA's new Space Station Processing Facility , was delivered to Kennedy Space Center on 7 June 1995 alongside the new solar arrays which were to be launched with it. The module was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis on 12 November 1995 on mission STS-74 and both the module and Atlantis docked to Mir on 15 November, leaving STS-71 as the only Shuttle- Mir docking mission requiring Kristall to be relocated. The module resembles
286-497: The module in boxes, which were later deployed on Kvant -1 during spacewalks. The first, the Mir Cooperative Solar Array, was jointly designed by NASA and Russia in order to test designs for the future International Space Station . The array was 42 m in area, and provided 6.7 kW of power when installed on the station during expedition EO-21 in 1996. The array consisted of 42 US-built panels arranged in
308-413: The module was provided with its own thermal control, television transmission, and telemetry systems. Rather than being covered in a newly-manufactured white thermal blanket, the module was flown with an unusual orange blanket, which was selected from pre-existing stock for financial reasons. Development of the simplified module was given priority over the more complex Mir -2 type SO-1, and the flight model,
330-499: The possible origins and components of that debris. The last two experiments, Passive Optical Sample Assemblies I (POSA I) and II (POSA II), tested various materials intended for use on the International Space Station including paint samples, glass coatings, multilayer insulation, and a variety of metallic samples. MEEP was designed to assess the magnitude of molecular contamination in ISS critical exterior surfaces in
352-490: The pressure hull for the cancelled Science Power Platform intended for Mir-2 and the International Space Station , the test article for which was turned into the Rassvet Mini-Research Module 1 and launched in 2010 aboard Atlantis , on mission STS-132 . In addition to simplifying space shuttle docking missions, Mir' s docking module was also used as a carrier for two new photovoltaic arrays , mounted to
374-635: The space environment and to quantify the performance and degradation rate of candidate and selected ISS exterior surface materials. NASA's Langley Research Center had overall responsibility for MEEP as well as the development of the Passive Equipment Carriers as well as the PPMD experiment. Johnson Space Center was responsible for the ODC, Marshall Space Flight Center for POSA I and Boeing 's Defence and Space Group for POSA II. The MEEP experiment hardware
396-463: The station, as a mounting point for external experiments, and as a storage module when not in use for dockings. The docking module originated in the 1992 design version of the cancelled Mir -2 space station, which featured a combined docking compartment and airlock to facilitate docking missions during the Soviet Buran space shuttle programme (this module, SO-1, was eventually incorporated into
418-553: The station. Adding a small extension to Kristall , however, would provide the shuttles the clearance they needed to dock without necessitating the relocation of the module on each occasion, and it was decided to base the design of the new module loosely on that of the Mir -2 docking compartment. Discussions on providing a docking module for the Shuttle- Mir programme began in May 1993 and approval
440-544: Was a Soviet space station project which began in February 1976. Some of the modules built for Mir -2 have been incorporated into the International Space Station (ISS). The project underwent many changes, but was always based on the DOS-8 base block space station core module, built as a back-up to the DOS-7 base block used in the Mir station. The DOS-8 base block was eventually used as
462-497: Was granted on 1 November, with the draft plan being developed by December. The module consisted of what were essentially two Soyuz TM-16 type Soyuz orbital modules cut in half, with a cylindrical central portion mounted in the center of the two halves which incorporated docking apparatus (the other two halves were not used). An APAS-89 docking port was mounted on each end. Mounting points were also provided for two boxes (containing new solar arrays) and other external experiments, and
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#1732881332850484-463: Was launched to Mir aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-76 . The four experiments installed on the docking module during the only EVA of the mission, carried out by Michael Clifford and Linda Godwin on flight day six, 27 March 1996. MEEP remained attached to Mir for 18 months until 1 October 1997, when, during flight day seven of STS-86 , the experiments were retrieved in an EVA by Vladimir Titov and Scott Parazynski . In addition to
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