Spektr

The other major module yet to be attached to the Mir space station is known as Spektr. Of similar size and mass as Priroda, Spektr will be used to conduct a wide assortment of studies, including "investigations of the surface-atmosphere system and studies of the Earth's natural resources." Specific Earth observations instruments earmarked for Spektr are the Oktava optical system developed by the USSR/ Russian Academy of Sciences, the Kometa TsNPO, and the Kazan Optical-Mechanical Works for investigations of the surface-atmo sphere system via the Pion-K, Lira, and the Buton devices; the Balkan 1 apparatus devel oped by the Siberian branch of the USSR/Rus sian Academy of Sciences for lower atmo sphere measurements; the Faza and Feniks instruments produced by the Estonian Academy of Sciences and the Integral design office of the Lenningrad State University for spectral analysis of the Earth's surface; and the Astra 2 sensor from the State Committee on Hydrometeorology to measure gas and ionization levels in the upper atmosphere. Modifications to Spektrin accordance with the Shuttle-Mir program may result in some of these instruments being deleted (Reference 720).