Stock photography, photos: Russian MIR Space Station Stock photos of The MIR Soviet space station, launched into orbit on Feb. 20, 1986. The complex weighed more than 100 tons and consisted of the Mir core, Kvant, Kvant 2, Kristall, Spektr, Priroda and Docking modules. Mir measured more than 107 feet long with docked Progress-M and Soyuz-TM spacecraft, and was about 90 feet wide across its modules. The Russian government had planned to deorbit the abandoned MIR in early 2000 due to lack of funds, but the space station got a new lease on life when private investors provided the cash to keep the craft in orbit. The new Russian partners, MirCorp, a Netherlands-based company, funded cosmonauts Sergei Zaloytin and Alexander Kaleri's return mission to reopen and repair the Mir, April 4 to June 15, 2000. However, MIR was deorbited on March 23, 2001. Paris Air Show ˆ France. Photograph: © Robert Burch Click for a larger image and more information Keywords associated with this stock photo: Russia, mir, space station, cosmonaut, buran, paris air show, aviation, aerospace, aero, space, space program, rocket, shuttle