STS-71

Infobox Space mission
mission_name = STS-71
insignia = Sts-71-patch.png shuttle = Atlantis
launch_pad = 39-A
launch = June 27, 1995, 19:32:19 UTC
landing = July 7, 1995, 14:55:28 UTC, KSC, Runway 15
duration = 9 days, 19 hours, 23 minutes, 9 seconds
altitude = 170 nautical miles (315 km)
inclination = 51.6 degrees
orbits = 153
distance = 4.1 million miles (6.6 million km)
crew_photo = STS-71_crew.jpg
crew_caption =
previous = STS-67
next = STS-70

STS-71 was the third mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first Space Shuttle docking to "Mir", a Russian space station. The mission used Space Shuttle "Atlantis", which lifted off from launch pad 39A on June 27 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission delivered a relief crew of two cosmonauts, Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin, to the station, along with recovering American Increment astronaut Norman Thagard, and was the first in a series of seven straight missions to the station flown by "Atlantis".

The five-day docking marked the creation of the largest spacecraft ever placed into orbit at that time in history, the first ever on-orbit changeout of Shuttle crew members, and the 100th manned space launch by the United States. During the docked operations, the crews of the shuttle & station carried out various on-orbit joint US/Russian life sciences investigations aboard SPACELAB/Mir and a logistical resupply of the "Mir", along with the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II) experiment.

Crew

* Robert L. Gibson (5), Commander
* Charles J. Precourt (2), Pilot
* Gregory J. Harbaugh (3), Mission Specialist 2
* Ellen S. Baker (3), Mission Specialist 1
* Bonnie J. Dunbar (4), Mission Specialist 3

Launched: Mir-19 crew

* Anatoly Solovyev (4), MIR-19 crew upload - RSA
* Nikolai Budarin (1), MIR-19 crew upload - RSA

Landed: Mir-18 crew

* Norman E. Thagard (5), MIR-18 crew download
* Vladimir Dezhurov (1), MIR-18 crew download - RSA
* Gennady Strekalov (6), MIR-18 crew download - RSA

Mission parameters

*Mass: 12,191 kg payload
*Perigee: 342 km
*Apogee: 342 km
*Inclination: 51.6°
*Period: 88.9 min

1st Mir docking mission

*Docked: June 29, 1995, 13:00:16 UTC
*Undocked: July 4, 1995, 11:09:42 UTC
*Time Docked: 4 days, 22 h, 9 min, 26 s

Mission highlights

The primary objectives of this flight were to rendezvous and perform the first docking between the Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir on June 29. In the first U.S.-Soviet docking in twenty years, "Atlantis" delivered a relief crew of two cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin to "Mir".

Other prime objectives were on-orbit joint United States of America-Russian life sciences investigations aboard SPACELAB/Mir, logistical resupply of the Mir and recovery of US astronaut Norman E. Thagard.

Secondary objectives included filming with the IMAX camera and the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II) experiment.

STS-71 marked a number of historic firsts in human spaceflight history: the 100th U.S. human space launch conducted from the Cape; first U.S. Space Shuttle-Russian Space Station docking and joint on-orbit operations; largest spacecraft ever in orbit; and the first on-orbit changeout of Shuttle crew.

Docking occurred at 9 a.m. EDT, June 29, using R-Bar or Earth radius vector approach, with "Atlantis" closing in on Mir from directly below. R-bar approach allows natural forces to brake the orbiter's approach more than would occur along standard approach directly in front of the space station; also, an R-bar approach minimizes the number of orbiter jet firings needed for approach. The manual phase of the docking began with "Atlantis" about a half-mile (800 m) below Mir, with Gibson at the controls on aft flight deck. Stationkeeping was performed when the orbiter was about 250 feet (75 m) from "Mir", pending approval from Russian and U.S. flight directors to proceed. Gibson then maneuvered the orbiter to a point about 30 feet (10 m) from "Mir" before beginning the final approach to station. Closing rate was close to the targeted 0.1 foot per second (30 mm/s), being approximately 0.107 foot per second (33 mm/s) at contact. Interface contact was nearly flawless: less than one inch (25 mm) lateral misalignment and an angular misalignment of less than 0.5 degrees per axis. Docking occurred about 216 nautical miles (400 km) above Lake Baikal region of the Russian Federation. The Orbiter Docking System (ODS) with Androgynous Peripheral Docking System served as the actual connection point to a similar interface on the docking port on Mir's Kristall module. ODS, located in the forward payload bay of "Atlantis", performed flawlessly during the docking sequence.

When linked, "Atlantis" and Mir formed the largest spacecraft ever in orbit, with a total mass of about 225 metric tons (almost one-half million pounds), orbiting some 218 nautical miles (404 km) above the Earth. After hatches on each side opened, STS-71 crew passed into "Mir" for a welcoming ceremony. On the same day, the Mir 18 crew officially transferred responsibility for the station to the Mir 19 crew, and the two crews switched spacecraft.

For the next five days, about 100 hours in total, joint U.S.-Russian operations were conducted, including biomedical investigations, and transfer of equipment to and from "Mir". Fifteen separate biomedical and scientific investigations were conducted, using the Spacelab module installed in the aft portion of "Atlantis"'s payload bay, and covering seven different disciplines: cardiovascular and pulmonary functions; human metabolism; neuroscience; hygiene, sanitation and radiation; behavioral performance and biology; fundamental biology; and microgravity research. The Mir 18 crew served as test subjects for investigations. Three Mir 18 crew members also carried out an intensive programme of exercise and other measures to prepare for re-entry into gravity environment after more than three months in space.

Numerous medical samples as well as disks and cassettes were transferred to "Atlantis" from "Mir", including more than 100 urine and saliva samples, about 30 blood samples, 20 surface samples, 12 air samples, several water samples and numerous breath samples taken from "Mir" 18 crew members. Also moved was a broken Salyut-5 computer. Transferred to "Mir" were more than 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of water generated by the orbiter for waste system flushing and electrolysis; specially designed spacewalking tools for use by the "Mir" 19 crew during a spacewalk to repair a jammed solar array on the Spektr module; and transfer of oxygen and nitrogen from Shuttle's environmental control system to raise air pressure on the station, to improve "Mir"'s consumables margin.

The spacecraft undocked on July 4, following a farewell ceremony, with the Mir hatch closing at 3:32 p.m. EDT. July 3 and hatch on Orbiter Docking System shut 16 minutes later. Gibson compared separation sequence to a "cosmic" ballet: Prior to the "Mir"-"Atlantis" undocking, the "Mir" 19 crew temporarily abandoned station, flying away from it in their Soyuz spacecraft so they could record images of "Atlantis" and "Mir" separating. Soyuz unlatched at 6:55 a.m. EDT, and Gibson undocked "Atlantis" from "Mir" at 7:10 a.m. EDT.

The returning crew of eight equaled the largest crew (STS-61-A, October 1985) in Shuttle history. To ease their re-entry into gravity environment after more than 100 days in space, "Mir" 18 crew members Thagard, Dezhurov and Strekalov lay supine in custom-made recumbent seats installed prior to landing in the orbiter middeck.

Inflight problems included a glitch with General Purpose Computer 4 (GPC 4), which was declared failed when it did not synchronize with GPC 1; subsequent troubleshooting indicated it was an isolated event, and GPC 4 operated satisfactorily for the remainder of mission.

ee also

* Space science
* List of space shuttle missions
* List of spacecraft and crews that visited Mir
* List of human spaceflights chronologically

External links

* [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-71/mission-sts-71.html NASA mission summary]
* [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle69.htm STS-71 Video Highlights]