The Russian Mir Space Station spent fifteen years in earth orbit. Mir, Russian for 'peace', is the world's longest surviving space station and although it had its troubles, the craft achieved a remarkable record.

The core module was launched in 1986 and was intended to last five or six years. Initially the station was serviced by Soyuz spacecraft launches. During the 1990's a joint US - Russian agreement sponsored several joint space shuttle missions to the Mir. In 2001 the station made a fiery re-entry ending its 15 year mission.