Deorbit of Mir
Videos
The Russian space station Mir ended its mission on 23 March 2001, when it was brought out of its orbit, entered the atmosphere and was destroyed. Major components ranged from about 5 to 15 years in ag
Mir three years before deorbit
Skylab
Videos
Skylab was the United States' first space station launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three trios of astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab
Deorbit of Mir
…at any time". Therefore, it was decided to deorbit it while it was still functioning rather than risk it falling back to Earth out of control, like Skylab in 1979 and Salyut 7 in 1991, potentially dropping debris over a populated area. The Mir Deorbit Monitoring Group, whose members were located in the…
Skylab as photographed by its departing final crew (Skylab 4).
Skylab configuration as planned
Von Braun's sketch of a Space Station based on conversion of a Saturn V stage, 1964
The floor grating of Skylab under construction