Product Description

This successor edition will pick up the story where the first edition left off in 1997, and run through to Mir?s de-orbiting in March 2001, to provide the definitive account of the Mir Space Station. The book reviews the origins of the Soviet space station programme, in particular the highly successful Salyuts 6 and 7, describes Mir?s structure, environment, power supply and manoeuvring systems, and provides a comprehensive account of how it was assembled and how it operated in orbit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #980244 in Books
• Published on: 2005-02-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 424 pages

Review

From the reviews:

"This book by David Harland is written to his usual high standard. It tells the history of Mir from its early planning stage to its spectacular destruction in 2001. This brings together the complete history of a remarkable spacecraft which made living in space possible. If you want to get a clear picture of how the Mir station started … developed and grew and was used, this is the book." (Rex Hall, Spaceflight, Vol. 48, March, 2006)

"The history of the Mir Space Station, initiated with a launch in 1986 and continuously inhabited for a decade, is important for its technological achievements … . Harland, a space historian, presents a very detailed survey of the launches, cosmonauts, engineering details, problems, and solutions. … The book is well illustrated with photographs of people and spacecraft … . a significant addition to the literature of space science and technology. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals." (A. M. Strauss, CHOICE, Vol. 42 (11), July, 2005)

Customer Reviews

space station operations
The focus of the book is on Soviet/Russian space station operations in general: the first third of the book covers operations on board the Salyut stations.

On the downside, there is little mention of station module design and construction prior to launch, and often the scientific instruments on board are merely mentioned in passing by name.

I'm glad to have this publication on my bookshelf
The book offers a very good coverage of the station history and visitors. It is a step in the right direction and provides a balancing view to a propaganda generated by publications hailing NASA as the only winer in cosmic space. In this way it's a very refreshing read. Next, I would like to see a story about Lunochod (Russian automated lunar explorer)
I find the language a bit "wooden", which might be a result of a direct translation from Russian documentation. Also, I've had an overwhelming impression that the author had not done much research in astronautic terms, and one can see semantic void encompassing scientific data included in the book.