This site is part of the Science Museum's	STEM Project	and it was completed by a student of North London Collegiate School,	based on a visit to the 'Exploration of Space' Gallery, and called
			The Development of Space Travel and the First Moon Landing.

Space Station.

A space station is a spacecraft, but it is not used to travel to and from Earth. Instead it stays in Earth's orbit and frequently docks (joins up with) other spacecraft, which are not always manned. These usually bring food, a change of crew, fresh fuel, fresh air tanks, scientific equipment, and possibly, the latest music and videos, so that the astronauts are not bored in their 'space home'.

Backdropped against a massive array of clouds over the South Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea, Russia's Mir Space Station is seen from the aft flight deck of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The two spacecraft were in the process of making their third docking in Earth orbit, during the STS-76 shuttle mission on March 23, 1996.

The structure is in itself a self-contained home, in space. Engineers designed it so that the crew has comfortable resting areas, where they can enjoy privacy and entertain themselves, possibly with videos and music. Some Russian crewmembers have stayed for up to a year; therefore there should be enough activities to keep the spacemen busy. Experiments, where weightlessness and space conditions are very important factors, are performed. These are generally carried out outside the space station, along with work concerning adjustment of equipment, repairs to the station and collection of samples. The crews enter and leave the complex through an airlock.

Inside the MIR space station - and you think your home is cluttered!

Inside the space station, the crewmembers live and work in a 'shirtsleeve' environment. Only if they venture outside the spacecraft do they have to put a space suit on. Experience has shown that in a small craft, in the weightlessness of space, normal work activity is not enough. This causes the astronaut's bones to become brittle and his muscles to weaken so much, that when he returns to Earth's gravity, he could die. For that reason every astronaut, every day, completes two hours of vigorous exercise, strapped to the floor (it simulates gravity). Air within the complex can be recycled for a time. The air is freshened by circulating through filters, which remove the carbon dioxide.

U.S. astronaut Norm Thagard demonstrates the sleep restraint in his sleep station in the Core Module of the Mir Space Station.

Outside, a meteorite shield protects the station. It also has foldout panels, filled with silicon solar cells. The cells gather the Sun's rays, and convert their energy into electricity, which powers the equipment inside.

For the first few days inside the structure, the majority of astronauts feel dizzy or sick. This is because the 'balancing mechanism' inside the ear is affected by the lack of gravitational force. The weightlessness affects the body posture as well, which becomes hunched (there is no gravity to tense the muscles). When in space, astronauts seem to "grow". In fact, they are not growing at all - it is merely the lack of gravity force, we have on Earth that allows them to stand tall, and not be squashed down by gravity.

Mir shower

And yet, keeping all these problems in mind, engineers have developed a space vehicle, in which man managed to survive for 365 days. Could you stay alive? Click on Space Records and find out about people who can!