Kvant 1

Description

Kvant 1, a specialized space module, linked up with the space station Mir. With the advent of the Mir space station in 1986, a new requirement for permanent expansion of the orbital complex was set. In 1987 Kvant 1, a specialized module left over from the Salyut 7 program, was attached to Mir not only to provide a complex set of scientific equipment (the international Roentgen X-ray Observatory consisting of the HEXE, Pulsar X-1, Sirene-2, and TTM instruments; the Glasar UV telescope; and the Svetlana electrophoresis unit) but also to enhance space station support systems, in particular attitude control via six large gyrodynes. When attached to the aft docking port of Mir Kvant 1 measured 5.8 m in length and 4.2 m in diameter with an initial mass of 11 metric tons.

The four forward radial ports were reserved for full-size modules of about 19.6 metric tons each. The highly specialized modules were built at the Khrunichev Machine Building plant for the Energiya NPO, now RKK Energiya. Kvant 2, which was attached in 1989, was also known as the additional equipment module in accordance with its wide variety of new systems. Perhaps the most important feature of the new module was the unique air-lock chamber with an enlarged (1 m diameter) exit hatch. In addition, the 12.4 m long, 4.4 m diameter Kvant 2 housed the following major equipment:

Six gyrodynes MKF-6MA multi-spectral camera system ITS-7D infrared spectrometer MKS-M2 optical spectrometer KAP-350 Topographic camera ARIS X-ray sensor Inkubator 2 hatchery Rodnik water system Elektron and Vika electrolysis units ASP-G-M exterior instrument platform.