The United States and Russia are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the STS-71 joint mission, where the Atlantis space shuttle was first docked to the Mir orbital station. The ferry started its flight on June 27, 1995, and docked two days later – on June 29. It was the third mission joining the Shuttle-Mir program. This joint project involved 11 shuttle flights to the Russian station.
Soyuz MS-14 moored to the International Space Station
The Russian transport spacecraft MS-14 with the Fyodor humanoid robot on board moored to the International …
See more
–
To dock the shuttle, Commander Robert Gibson placed it directly under the Mir station so that Earth’s gravity would slow the orbiter’s approach to the station, enabling the crew to perform an almost perfect mooring maneuver. Atlantis and Mir weighed together about 260 tons.
As part of the STS-71 mission, the hundredth American manned space flight was carried out. The first change of the crew at the Mir station was also made. During the nine-day mission, joint US-Russian experiments were carried out, including biomedical research.
The aim of the Shuttle-Mir program was, among others gaining experience in long-term space flight, conducting natural, environmental and microgravity research.
source:
ebu, NASA
#me
#atlantis
#Russia
#usa
#prom
#station
#kosmos
#mission
–
