STS71_v_c_o_KEIP (1995, unnumbered press photo)

“The Russian space capsule Soyuz, background, between two solar panels at left, moves away from the Mir space station to move into position to photograph the space shuttle Atlantis as it undocks from Mir Tuesday, July 4, 1995, in this image from NASA television. Mir and Atlantis have been docked together for five days.”

Above per the detached press sheet.

8.5” x 11”.

Mir’s conically shaped Spektr module dominates the image. The module was designed for remote observation of Earth's environment, containing atmospheric & surface research equipment. Spektr had four solar arrays which generated about half of the station's electrical power. In 1997, one of those solar arrays – on the left & immediately above the Soyuz spacecraft in this image – was damaged by the Progress M-34 resupply vehicle while conducting an experimental docking maneuver with the Kvant-1 module.
The photograph presents sort of an optical illusion, giving the appearance of Spektr having more solar arrays than it actually has. The pair near the bottom of the image actually extend out from the Mir core/base module, which is mostly obscured by the Spektr module. Note also in the photos linked to below, that the ‘upper’ pair of solar arrays extend out from the conical section of Spektr. In my photograph, while the left-hand solar array looks ‘normal’, I have no idea what’s going on with the apparent contorted/disjointed appearance of the one on the right. If that’s even what all of that is. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So then…the station keeping Soyuz spacecraft in the photo was responsible for the iconic (in my world) image(s) of Space Shuttle Atlantis & Mir together in one image, also linked to below.
Having no life & too much time on my hands, this prompted me to consider from what Soyuz window was/were that/those photographs taken from…which then led me to wonder if the Soyuz possessed any legitimate forward-facing/docking windows.
There is nothing discernible (at least to me) in any ASTP photos of this being the case. I just assumed a periscope apparatus was used at that time. Subsequently, in a few of the exceedingly few high-resolution photos of manned Mir/Soyuz spacecraft inflight – BTW, only available because of Shuttle crews taking them – there appears to be what, in still latter manned ISS/Soyuz spacecraft, is a conspicuous protrusion/cupola, housing an obvious forward-facing window.
Therefore & finally, with very little else to go on, and me not willing to further research the evolution of the soulless maggots’ Soyuz spacecraft, I’m going with the cupola/window modification commencing sometime during the Mir program. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

www.nasa.gov/feature/35-years-ago-launch-of-mir-space-sta...

Compare/contrast:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spektr_before_collision_-_crop...
Credit: Wikipedia

Taken on: May 24, 2023

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