Building Mir-2

By mid-1991 the 2K1 mission had slipped to 1992 from its original launch date in the first quarter of 1991. Beyond that Buran was now scheduled to take part in the assembly and operation of the Mir-2 complex, where the emphasis would be on the industrial production of ultra-pure medicines and semiconductor materials and also on remote sensing. The plans were presented in detail by Yuriy Semyonov at the congress of the International Astronautical Federation in Montreal in October 1991.

First, the 2K orbiter would go up again in 1993 on an unmanned solo flight (2K2) to test some of the biotechnological installations to be flown under the Mir-2 pro­gram. Then in 1994 the 1K vehicle would fly the first manned mission (1K2) as part of a plan sometimes light-heartedly referred to as “Mir-1.5”, in which Mir would gradually be replaced in orbit by Mir-2. After the launch of the Mir-2 core module by a Proton rocket, Buran would rendezvous with the module, grab it with its two remote manipulator arms, and dock it to a bridge in the cargo bay. Buran would then

link up with a small docking module on Mir’s multiple docking adapter and again use its manipulator arms to transfer the Mir-2 core module to a lateral docking on Mir previously occupied by the Spektr module. The two modules would remain docked for about two years. After the transfer of the Priroda Earth resources module to the Mir-2 core, Mir and its remaining add-on modules would then have been undocked and discarded, setting the stage for the four-year assembly of the Mir-2 complex (1996-2000).

Before that, in 1995, vehicle 2K would be launched on another autonomous flight (2K3) to test a biotechnological module called 37KBT, based on the original 37KB instrumentation modules. With the emphasis having shifted from fundamental scientific research to biotechnological production, the original plans for the 37KBI scientific add-on modules had been scrapped in late 1989. Buran would now regularly fly two biotechnological modules (37KBT nr. 1 and nr. 2), carrying one up and bringing the other down.

Between 1996 and 2000 there would be two missions annually, one using vehicle 2K to swap out the 37KBT biotechnological modules (2K4, 2K5, 2K6, 2K7, and 2K8) and another using the 1K orbiter for assembly and logistics missions (1K3,1K4, 1K5, 1K6, 1K7). Planned for addition to Mir-2 was a 37KBE “power module’’ equipped with extra solar panels. Further Buran missions would have been required to add a large 85 m truss structure to Mir-2 and outfit it with solar arrays, large radiators, and an array of scientific instruments [30].

The “Mir 1.5’’ plan was dropped in 1992, when it was decided that Mir-2 would

only be launched after Mir had outlived its usefulness. This would also allow the new station to be placed into a higher inclination orbit (65° vs. 51.6° for Mir) for better remote-sensing coverage. At this point the big Buran-launched 37KB-type modules were abandoned in favor of smaller modules based on the Zenit-launched Progress – M2 cargo ship. The new Mir-2 concept was approved by the Council of Chief Designers in November 1992. Although it left open the option of launching the add-on modules and the station’s truss structure with Buran, Zenit was clearly the preferred option. By the time Mir-2 was merged with Freedom to become the Inter­national Space Station in late 1993, work on Buran had been suspended.