You can't visit the Mir Space Station because it disintegrated into flaming pieces and fell into the Pacific Ocean, you say? Well, yes and no....
I just came home from vacation in the Wisconsin Dells where I visited the "Original Mir Space Station". Housed in a space-themed building at Tommy Bartlett's Exploratory, the Mir Space Station is one of three built by the Russians. One, as you know, partially disintegrated on re-entry and plunged into the Pacific Ocean. The second is in a warehouse in Russia. The third was once in a museum in Russia. That is, until 1997 when the cash-strapped museum sold it to Tommy Bartlett.
The 43-foot-long core module lies in its own building separated from the main Exploratory building, which is essentially a hands-on science museum for children and adults alike. Other memorabilia, video presentations, a chance to move a rover on a pretend Mars surface, and many informational posters are found in the building along with Mir. The Mir structure is set at a 45-degree angle in the building and you are allowed to walk through a small portion of it. Being inside the Mir as it tilts at an awkward angle makes you feel a little bit as if you are floating in space. You are able to see just how small living quarters in space are, although eventually five different components were launched and attached to the core module. A guitar was hanging on one wall, and it made me wonder if just such a large-sized luxury would really have been allowed the cosmonauts and astronauts who lived and worked in Mir. With a little research I learned that yes, in fact, a guitar was one of the items on board the Mir that went to space.
Not many people who come through Tommy Bartlett's Exploratory realize the rare treat they have in viewing a Mir core module. The Mir that was sent to space was launched in 1986 and held human occupants until 2000, before returning in fiery pieces to Earth in 2001. It was occupied nonstop for almost a decade, and a Russian cosmonaut named Valery Polyakov spent a record 438 days straight aboard Mir. To get a feel for what it must have been like, come and see the only Mir available to the public.
