Why was Mir not made into the ISS?

[Nicholander]

From what i understand, the Mir space station would've made an excellent Russian segment for the ISS, and you could attach the Unity module (and thus the rest of the ISS) on the forward facing docking port of the Core module of Mir, like the IRL Zarya module. And it would've been cheaper, because you would not have to have made the Zvezda, Zarya, Pirs, Poisk, and Rassvet modules, and it would've made a larger Russian segment too. And it wasn't an orbital inclination problem, as the Shuttle-Mir flights show you. So why did they de-orbit Mir instead of making it into the ISS?

Edited June 29, 2014 by Nicholander
I put MIR instead of Mir, derp.

[NovaSilisko]

Simply put, it was getting old. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir#Safety_aspects

[Nicholander]

Simply put, it was getting old. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir#Safety_aspects

So it was more expensive to revamp and repair the existing space station then to make a new one? To me, that kinda both makes sense and not makes sense at the same time.

[7499275]

So it was more expensive to revamp and repair the existing space station then to make a new one? To me, that kinda both makes sense and not makes sense at the same time.

[Nibb31]

So it was more expensive to revamp and repair the existing space station then to make a new one? To me, that kinda both makes sense and not makes sense at the same time.

What doesn't make sense?

Just like everything else, space hardware has an expiration date. It has rubber seals, tubes, lubricants, filters that have a limited life. It has tanks that have a limited number of tanking cycles. It has solar panels and batteries that need replacing. It has communication and data processing equipment that gets old and obsolete. External paint and insulation is bombarded with UV rays. It has consumable fluids and gasses that need replacing. And all of this hardware is running 24/7 in an extreme environment with vacuum and extreme temperature variations.

At one point, it becomes cheaper to build a new module than to fix and upgrade the old one. It's not much different to a car or a computer really...

Mir had suffered some major problems, including fires, leaks, and some modules had to be shut off completely. It had been repaired with duct tape and wires and pipes running through the access tunnels. The life support systems were outdated and insufficient. It's a miracle that it lasted as long as it did.

It was also in an orbit that was convenient to reach from Baikonur, but not necessarily optimal for access by the Space Shuttle. So it wouldn't have been a great basis for the ISS.

[Seret]

To me, that kinda both makes sense and not makes sense at the same time.

The amount of maintenance you can actually do in orbit is very limited, and it's absurdly expensive. Think of it like trying to fix an aeroplane in flight.