Kvant

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 (References 87, 89-90, 96-97).

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.

Less exotic but equally important are Kvant 2's two solar arrays with a capacity of 6.7 kW at beginning of life (References 87, 89-90, 98-103).