MIR Space Station

BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN � MARCH 16: German astronaut Klaus Dietrich Flade (2nd from R) and Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Kaleri (L) and Aleksandr Viktorenko (2nd from L) sit behind a wall of glass as they give a press conference prior to boarding the spacecraft that will take them to the Mir space station, on March 16, 1992, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. The Soyuz TM-14 spacecraft left the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 17 and docked at the Kvant rear port of the MIR on March 19, returning to earth after almost 8 days in space, on March 25, 1992. The mission carried German astronaut Klaus Dietrich Flade, Russian cosmonauts Aleksandr Viktorenko and Aleksandr Kaleri. Flade, who was the first German to travel to the MIR, realized gravity experiments aboard the MIR space station. The MIR (Russian word for Peace, World), was a space station operated by the Soviet Union, and later by the Russian Confederation. It was built between 1986 and 1996 and operated for fifteen years until March 23, 2001. It holds the record for the longest continuous presence in space, eight days short of ten years. In its fifteen year lifespan it was occupied for a total of twelve and a half years. The station was made accessible for astronauts and cosmonauts from thirteen different nations. (Photo by Sven Creutzmann/Mambo photo/Getty Images)