The Russian Orbiter MIR was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001. It was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996. MIR was the first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space, and held the record for the longest continuous human presence in space at 3, 644 days. It was also the first space station to be visited by a shuttle mission, with the first visit by the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1995.