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95-554: STS-74 was the fourth mission of the US/Russian Shuttle– Mir program , and the second docking of the Space Shuttle with Mir . Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center launch pad 39A on 12 November 1995. The mission ended 8 days later with the landing of Atlantis back at Kennedy. It was the second in a series of seven straight missions to the station flown by Atlantis . The shuttle delivered

190-642: A camera. For instance, the harsh glare of direct sunlight can blind human vision. Also, the contrasts between objects in black shadows and objects in the solar light are much greater than in Earth's atmosphere, even where no glare is involved. The Advanced Space Vision System images objects with cooperative targets and uses the known positions of the targets to triangulate their exact relative positions in real time. The targets are composed of thin films of silicon dioxide layered with inconel to form an inconel interference stack. A stack like this has nearly no reflectivity in

285-403: A complex that was the world's largest spacecraft at that time, with a combined mass of 250 metric tons (250 long tons ; 280 short tons ). The Space Shuttle was a partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system that was operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program . Its official program name

380-589: A diplomatic channel for NASA to take part in the funding of the cripplingly under-funded Russian space program. This in turn allowed the newly fledged Russian government to keep Mir operating, in addition to the Russian space program as a whole, ensuring the Russian government remained friendly towards the United States. In addition to the flights of the Shuttle to Mir , Phase One also featured seven "Increments" aboard

475-471: A flawless countdown with no unscheduled holds. The shuttle lifted off the pad at 7:30:43 am EST; the main engines were shut down at 7:39 am EST. About 43 minutes after launch, a 2-minute and 13 second engine firing changed the shuttle's path into a 162 nautical mile circular orbit. Once on orbit, the five crew members began configuring Atlantis for on-orbit operations. Atlantis' s payload bay doors were opened about 90 minutes into

570-464: A joint US/Soviet mission during the détente period of the Cold War and the docking between a US Apollo spacecraft and a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. This was followed by the talks between NASA and Intercosmos in the 1970s about a "Shuttle– Salyut " program to fly Space Shuttle missions to a Salyut space station , with later talks in the 1980s even considering flights of the future Soviet shuttles from

665-630: A large truss structure that spans 109 metres (358 ft), making it the largest spacecraft ever assembled. The completed station consists of five laboratories and is able to support six crew members. With over 332 cubic metres (11,700 cu ft) of habitable volume and a mass of 400,000 kilograms (880,000 lb) the completed station is almost twice the size of the combined Shuttle– Mir spacecraft. Phases Two and Three are intended to continue both international cooperation in space and zero-gravity scientific research, particularly regarding long-duration spaceflight. By spring 2015, Roscosmos , NASA, and

760-483: A near collision with a Progress resupply cargo ship during a long-distance manual docking system test and a total loss of station electrical power. The power failure also caused a loss of attitude control , which led to an uncontrolled "tumble" through space. The next NASA astronaut to stay on Mir was Michael Foale . Foale and Russian mission specialist Elena Kondakova boarded Mir from Atlantis on mission STS-84 . The STS-84 crew transferred 249 items between

855-567: A new space station, which eventually became the International Space Station. They also agreed, in preparation for this new project, that the United States would be heavily involved in the Mir project in the years ahead, under the code name "Phase One" (the construction of the ISS being "Phase Two"). The first Space Shuttle flight to Mir was a rendezvous mission without docking on STS-63 . This

950-486: A pair of solar arrays along with the Russian-built Mir Docking Module to allow docking with the station by the space shuttle without moving Mir' s Kristall module. During the three-day docking, the Russian, Canadian, and American crew transferred supplies and equipment between Atlantis and Mir , moved several long-term experiments , and upgraded the station with new equipment, particularly during

1045-406: A rate of about 180 statute miles every orbit. A series of rendezvous jet firings later further refined the closing rate, leading up to a docking with Mir at 06:27:38 UTC on 15 November. Atlantis finally docked to Mir's Kristall module using the docking module's top androgynous unit on flight day 4. The tension was high aboard Atlantis as Cameron maneuvered the shuttle towards Mir using

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1140-927: The Buran programme to a future US space station – this "Shuttle– Salyut " program never materialized however during the existence of the Soviet Intercosmos program. This changed after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union : the end of Cold War and Space Race resulted in funding for the US modular space station (originally named Freedom ), which was planned since the early 1980s, being slashed. Similar budgetary difficulties were being faced by other nations with space station projects, prompting American government officials to start negotiations with partners in Europe, Russia, Japan, and Canada in

1235-548: The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) have agreed to extend the ISS's mission from 2020 to 2024. In 2018 that was then extended out to 2030. The results of this research will provide considerable information for long-duration expeditions to the Moon and flights to Mars . Following the intentional deorbiting of Mir on 23 March 2001, the ISS became the only space station in orbit around Earth. It retained that distinction until

1330-570: The Earth . They also assisted in the maintenance and repair of the aging station, following various incidents with fires, collisions, power losses, uncontrolled spins and toxic leaks. In all, the American astronauts would spend almost a thousand days aboard Mir , allowing NASA to learn a great deal about long-duration spaceflight, particularly in the areas of astronaut psychology and how best to arrange experiment schedules for crews aboard space stations. Mir

1425-526: The Electromagnetic spectrum . The result is a black color that appears even blacker than the flattest black paint. In photos the disks look like small black dots, and a minimum of three are needed, so they are quite unobtrusive on most payloads. The basic elements of the system were devised at the National Research Council of Canada in the 1970s, to study car collisions. In 1990, development

1520-469: The International Space Station (ISS). The program was announced in 1993, the first mission started in 1994 and the project continued until its scheduled completion in 1998. Eleven Space Shuttle missions, a joint Soyuz flight and almost 1,000 cumulative days in space for American astronauts occurred over the course of seven long-duration expeditions. In addition to Space Shuttle launches to Mir

1615-602: The International Space Station . Lucid became the first American woman to live on station, and, following a six-week extension to her Increment due to issues with Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters , her 188-day mission set the US single spaceflight record. During Lucid's time aboard Mir , the Priroda module, with about 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg) of US science hardware, was docked to Mir . Lucid made use of both Priroda and Spektr to carry out 28 different science experiments and as living quarters. Her stay aboard Mir ended with

1710-881: The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The Shuttle fleet's total mission time was 1322 days, 19 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds. The Space Shuttle carried large payloads to various orbits, and, during the Shuttle– Mir and ISS programs, provided crew rotation and carried various supplies, modules and pieces of equipment to the stations. Each Shuttle was designed for a projected lifespan of 100 launches or 10 years' operational life. Nine docking missions were flown to Mir , from 1995 to 1997 during "Phase One": Space Shuttle Atlantis docked seven times to Mir , with Discovery and Endeavour each flying one docking mission to Mir . As Space Shuttle Columbia

1805-582: The Shuttle Landing Facility . The main landing gear touched down at 12:01:27 pm EST (17:01:27 UTC) on 20 November, a mission elapsed time (MET) of 8 days 4 hours 30 minutes and 44 seconds. Nose gear touched down at 8 days 4 hours 30 minutes 54 seconds (12:01:37 pm EST – 17:01:37 UTC) and Atlantis' wheels stopped at a MET of 8 days 4 hours 31 minutes 42 seconds (12:02:24 pm EST – 17:02:24 UTC), bringing

1900-615: The University of California Berkeley Trek Experiment which had been flying on orbit aboard Mir for the previous four years. Meanwhile, flying aboard Atlantis was the GPP payload which consisted of two experiments – the GPP experiment and the Photogrammetric Appendage Structural Dynamics Experiment (PASDE). The payload was managed by Goddard Space Flight Center 's Special Payloads Division. The GPP studied

1995-509: The solid rocket boosters for flight, following discovery of small cracks in the hold-down posts attached to boosters that had flown earlier that year. Close inspections of the STS-74 stack determined that no such cracks were present on the boosters to be used for the mission. Pad 39A was cleared on 9 November in preparation for loading of the onboard cryogenic tanks with the cryogenic oxygen and hydrogen reactants that provided electricity through

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2090-564: The 73rd space shuttle mission to a close. A second landing opportunity had been planned in case of bad weather, for a KSC landing at 1:37 pm EST with a deorbit burn at 12:36 pm on orbit 129, but it was not required. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration . Shuttle%E2%80%93Mir program The Shuttle– Mir program ( Russian : Программа «Мир»–«Шаттл» )

2185-412: The Earth's thermosphere, ionosphere and mesosphere energetics and dynamics using broadband spectroscopy. GPP also studied spacecraft interactions with the atmosphere by observing shuttle and Mir glow, shuttle engine firings, water dumps and fuel cell purges. Three PASDE canisters, located throughout the cargo bay, also photogrammetrically recorded structural response data of the Mir solar arrays during

2280-455: The Exploration and Use of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes . This agreement called for setting up a short, joint space project, during which one American astronaut would board the Russian space station Mir and two Russian cosmonauts would board a Space Shuttle. In September 1993, American Vice-President Al Gore Jr. , and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin announced plans for

2375-536: The International Space Station. Foale's Increment proceeded fairly normally until June 25, when a resupply ship collided with solar arrays on the Spektr module during the second test of the Progress manual docking system, TORU. The module's outer shell was hit and holed, which caused the station to lose pressure. This was the first on-orbit depressurization in the history of spaceflight. The crew quickly cut cables leading to

2470-827: The Mir EO-20 expedition) and ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter (flying on the Euromir 95 expedition). The two crews greeted each other with handshakes and hugs before carrying out a traditional gift exchange, with flowers and chocolates being swapped between the crews. During the three days of combined Shuttle-Mir operations, Atlantis' s crew transferred various items from the shuttle to the space station, including water, supplies, and equipment, along with two new solar arrays (one Russian and one jointly-developed) to upgrade Mir . The crew also transferred various experiment samples, equipment for repair and analysis and products manufactured on Mir back to Atlantis for transfer back to Earth, along with

2565-524: The Orbiter Docking System. At that point, the shuttle fired its downward steering jets and moved the shuttle toward the docking module. Once the two spacecraft were locked together, the docking ring on the Orbiter Docking System retracted, and a series of hooks and latches were engaged to ensure an airtight seal between the two spacecraft. The mating was confirmed at 1:17 am CST, with Atlantis over eastern Europe on its 30th orbit. Shortly after

2660-437: The STS-74 crew members successfully mated the 15-foot Russian built docking module with the shuttle's Orbiter Docking System. No problems were reported during the mating operation. Chris Hadfield, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut and STS-74 mission specialist, used the shuttle's robot arm to hoist the docking module out of the aft portion of the payload bay, rotated it to a vertical position, and moved it to within five inches of

2755-634: The Station. The astronauts also received practice in carrying out spacewalks outside Mir and lessons in the Russian language , which would be used throughout their missions to talk with the other cosmonauts aboard the station and Mission Control in Russia, the TsUP . During their expeditions aboard Mir , the astronauts carried out various experiments, including growth of crops and crystals, and took hundreds of photographs of

2850-533: The T-minus 5 minute mark at approximately 7:51 am EST (12:51 UTC). Following a poll of the mission management team at 7:12 am EST in which all stations (with the exception of the Shuttle Range Officer) returned a "go for launch" and the eventual clearance of the range for launch at 7:20 am EST, Atlantis raced into the sky at the beginning of a 10-minute, 9-second launch window following

2945-566: The United States also fully funded and equipped with scientific equipment the Spektr module (launched in 1995) and the Priroda module (launched in 1996), making them de facto U.S. modules during the duration of the Shuttle- Mir program. During the four-year program, many firsts in spaceflight were achieved by the two nations, including the first American astronaut to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft,

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3040-476: The United States to learn from Russian experience with long-duration spaceflight and to foster a spirit of cooperation between the two nations and their space agencies , the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Russian Space Agency (PKA). The project helped to prepare the way for further cooperative space ventures; specifically, "Phase Two" of the joint project, the construction of

3135-450: The attitudes of the program administrators. Nevertheless, a large amount of science, expertise in space station construction and knowledge in working in a cooperative space venture was gained from the combined operations, allowing the construction of the ISS to proceed much more smoothly than would have otherwise been the case. The origins of the Shuttle– Mir program can be traced back to the 1975 Apollo–Soyuz Test Project , that resulted in

3230-442: The capsule at a different location. This made Linenger the first American to undock from a space station aboard two different spacecraft (Space Shuttle and Soyuz). Linenger and his Russian crewmates Vasili Tsibliyev and Aleksandr Lazutkin faced several difficulties during the mission. These included the most severe fire aboard an orbiting spacecraft (caused by a backup oxygen-generating device), failures of various on board systems,

3325-412: The capture, Commander Ken Cameron expressed the crew's appreciation for the training that prepared them for the docking module installation. At about 3:00 am CST, the crew received a go from ground flight controllers to ungrapple the robot arm from the docking module. Shortly after that, crew members raised the orbiter's cabin pressure from 10.2 pounds per square inch to 14.7 psi. The cabin's pressure

3420-509: The condition of hardware and running cables through a special hatch from Spektr 's systems to the rest of the station. Following these first investigations, Foale and Solovyev conducted a 6-hour EVA on the surface of Spektr to inspect the damaged module. After these incidents, the US Congress and NASA considered whether to abandon the program out of concern for astronauts' safety but NASA administrator Daniel Goldin decided to continue

3515-513: The course of the flight, nearly 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of water were transferred to Mir and experiment samples including blood, urine and saliva were moved to Atlantis for return to Earth. Continuous US presence aboard Mir started in 1996 with the March 22 launch of Atlantis on mission STS-76 , when the Second Increment astronaut Shannon Lucid was transferred to the station. STS-76

3610-404: The crew of Atlantis moved supplies to the station and returned to Earth the first plants to complete a life cycle in space; a crop of wheat planted by Shannon Lucid. During five days of mated operations, the crews transferred nearly 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of logistics to Mir , and transferred 2,400 pounds (1,100 kg) of materials back to Atlantis (the most materials transferred between

3705-414: The docked phase of the mission. This data was later analyzed on the ground to verify the use of photogrammetric techniques to characterize the structural dynamics of the array, thus demonstrating that this technology would result in cost and risk reduction for the International Space Station . At 08:15:44 UTC on 18 November, Atlantis undocked from the docking module's bottom androgynous unit, leaving

3800-542: The docking missions that followed. Five weeks after Discovery 's flight, the March 14 launch of Soyuz TM-21 carried expedition EO-18 to Mir . The crew consisted of cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov and NASA astronaut Norman Thagard , who became the first American to fly into space aboard the Soyuz spacecraft . During the course of their 115-day expedition, the Spektr science module (which served as living and working space for American astronauts)

3895-485: The docking module permanently attached to the Kristall module, where it provided clearance between the shuttle and Mir' s solar arrays during subsequent dockings. Flight day 9 consisted primarily of preparations for landing, and the landing itself. Atlantis' s deorbit burn was performed on orbit 128 at around 11:00 am EST (16:00 UTC), leading to a landing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, on Runway 33 of

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3990-691: The early 1990s to begin a collaborative, multi-national, space station project. In the Russian Federation , as the successor to much of the Soviet Union and its space program, the deteriorating economic situation in the post-Soviet economic chaos led to growing financial problems of the now Russian space station program. The construction of the Mir-2 space station as a replacement for the aging Mir became illusionary, though only after its base block, DOS-8, had been built. These developments resulted in bringing

4085-458: The eight-day flight saw the first rendezvous of a Space Shuttle with Mir , as Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov and the rest of Discovery 's crew approached within 37 feet (11 m) of Mir . Following the rendezvous, Collins performed a flyaround of the station. The mission, a dress rehearsal for the first docked mission in the program, STS-71 , also carried out testing of various techniques and pieces of equipment that would be used during

4180-551: The expedition EO-18 crew. Atlantis also carried out on-orbit joint US-Russian life sciences investigations aboard a Spacelab module and performed a logistical resupply of the station. The final Shuttle flight of 1995, STS-74 , began with the November 12 launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis , and delivered the Russian-built Docking Module to Mir , along with a new pair of solar arrays and other hardware upgrades for

4275-487: The final Shuttle– Mir mission, STS-91 . The mission closed out Phase One, with the EO-25 and STS-91 crews transferring water to Mir and exchanging almost 4,700 pounds (2,100 kg) of cargo experiments and supplies between the two spacecraft. Long-term American experiments that had been on board Mir were also moved into Discovery . Hatches were closed for undocking at 9:07 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on June 8 and

4370-435: The final outfitting of the station, completed in 2012. In 2015, a reconfiguration of the American segment was completed to allow its docking ports to accommodate NASA-sponsored commercial crew vehicles, that were expected to start visiting the ISS in 2018. As of June 2015 , the ISS has a pressurized volume of 915 cubic metres (32,300 cu ft), and its pressurized modules total 51 metres (167 ft) in length, plus

4465-471: The fire aboard the station and collision with the Progress supply vessel in 1997. The fire, caused by the malfunction of a backup solid-fuel oxygen generator (SFOG), burned for, according to various sources, between 90 seconds and 14 minutes, and produced large amounts of toxic smoke that filled the station for around 45 minutes. This forced the crew to don respirators, but some of the respirator masks initially worn were broken. Fire extinguishers mounted on

4560-518: The first docking between an American Space Shuttle and the station. On June 29, Atlantis successfully docked with Mir , becoming the first US spacecraft to dock with a Russian spacecraft since the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Atlantis delivered cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin , who would form the expedition EO-19 crew, and retrieved astronaut Norman Thagard and cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Gennady Strekalov of

4655-531: The flight of Atlantis on STS-79 , which launched on September 16. STS-79 was the first Shuttle mission to carry a double Spacehab module. More than 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) of supplies were transferred to Mir , including water generated by Atlantis 's fuel cells , and experiments that included investigations into superconductors , cartilage development, and other biology studies. About 2,000 pounds (910 kg) of experiment samples and equipment were also transferred back from Mir to Atlantis , making

4750-441: The flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-89 . The mission delivered cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov to Mir and replaced David Wolf with Andy Thomas , following Wolf's 119-day Increment. During his Increment, the last of the program, Thomas worked on 27 science investigations into areas of advanced technology, Earth sciences , human life sciences, microgravity research, and ISS risk mitigation. His stay on Mir , considered

4845-471: The flight, followed by a "go" for on-orbit operations. Approximately three hours into the flight, Commander Ken Cameron and Pilot Jim Halsell fired the orbiter's reaction control thrusters in the first of a series of rendezvous burns that refined Atlantis' s path towards Mir . Shortly after the burn, the first Canadian mission specialist, Chris Hadfield, activated the Russian-built docking module, housed in

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4940-635: The former adversaries together with the Shuttle– Mir Program, which would pave the way to the International Space Station , a joint project with several international partners. In June 1992, American President George H. W. Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin agreed to co-operate on space exploration by signing the Agreement between the United States of America and the Russian Federation Concerning Cooperation in

5035-485: The installation and alignment of the centerline camera in the centre of the Orbiter Docking System. The camera later assisted Commander Ken Cameron in final piloting tasks as Atlantis moved towards and docked with Mir. At 5:00 am CST (11:00 UTC) on day 2, Atlantis was about 4,000 statute miles behind Mir , and was closing in to the space station at a rate of about 380 statute miles per orbit. Cameron, Hadfield and other available crew members also spent

5130-476: The installation of the docking module. The crew's preparation for the mission had begun some thirteen months earlier in 1994, with the crew being trained in the operation of the space shuttle, the mating and docking procedures that would be required as Atlantis approached Mir later in the mission, and the management of the various scientific experiments being carried on the orbiter during the mission. Preparation of Atlantis itself for mission STS-74 began with

5225-406: The largest spacecraft ever to have been assembled at that time in history, and the first American spacewalk using a Russian Orlan spacesuit . The program was marred by various concerns, notably the safety of Mir following a fire, a Russian spacecraft colliding with Spektr rendering it uninhabitable, financial issues with the cash-strapped Russian space program and worries from astronauts about

5320-454: The launch of Chinese Tiangong-1 space laboratory on 29 September 2011. Mir 's legacy lives on in the station, bringing together five space agencies in the cause of exploration and allowing those space agencies to prepare for their next leap into space, to the Moon, Mars and beyond. Criticism of the program was primarily concerned with the safety of the aging Mir , particularly following

5415-400: The majority of their science aboard the station. These missions allowed NASA and Roscosmos to learn a great deal about how best to work with international partners in space and how to minimize the risks associated with assembling a large space station in orbit, as would have to be done with the ISS. The project also served as a political ruse on the part of the American government, providing

5510-633: The mission was the Wake Shield Facility (or WSF), a device designed to generate new semiconductor films for advanced electronics. The WSF was flown at the end of Discovery 's robotic arm over the course of the flight. During the mission, the astronauts aboard Discovery also carried out various experiments aboard the Spacehab module in the Orbiter's payload bay, and took part in a live bi-directional audio and downlink video hookup between themselves and

5605-416: The module and closed Spektr 's hatch in order to prevent the need to abandon the station in their Soyuz lifeboat. Their efforts stabilized the station's air pressure, whilst the pressure in Spektr , containing many of Foale's experiments and personal effects, dropped to a vacuum. Fortunately, food, water and other vital supplies were stored in other modules, and salvage and replanning effort by Foale and

5700-529: The module and the docking system were located in Atlantis' s payload bay. Mission specialists Jerry Ross and Bill McArthur inspected the spacesuits they would don should a spacewalk become necessary during the mating or docking operations. Following the space suit inspection, Mission Specialist Chris Hadfield powered up the orbiter's robot arm in preparation for the next day's transfer of the docking module over to Atlantis' s docking system. All systems affiliated with

5795-546: The morning answering questions posed by Canadian reporters located in Montreal and Toronto. Hadfield, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, was the fourth Canadian astronaut to fly on the shuttle. With all of the systems that were to put the Russian Docking Module in place for a flight day 4 link-up with Mir checked out and ready to go, the STS-74 crew settled down for 8 hours of sleep that afternoon. On flight day 3,

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5890-401: The orbiter's thrusters. Atlantis docked with Mir at 06:27:38 UTC following a faultless set of orbital maneuvers. After all the required checks had been completed and the hatches had been opened, the five shuttle astronauts moved into Mir , ready to carry out three days of combined operations with Mir' s resident crew, Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Avdeyev (carrying out

5985-468: The pair affixed a 121-pound (55 kg) Solar Array Cap to the Docking Module , for a future attempt by crew members to seal off the leak in Spektr 's hull. The mission returned Foale to Earth, along with samples, hardware, and an old Elektron oxygen generator, and dropped Wolf off on the Station ready for his 128-day Increment. Wolf had originally been scheduled to be the final Mir astronaut, but

6080-416: The program. The next flight to Mir , STS-86 , brought Increment astronaut David Wolf to the station. STS-86 performed the seventh Shuttle– Mir docking, the last of 1997. During Atlantis 's stay crew members Titov and Parazynski conducted the first joint US–Russian extravehicular activity during a Shuttle mission, and the first in which a Russian wore a US spacesuit. During the five-hour spacewalk,

6175-538: The replacement of three thrusters in Atlantis' s right-hand Orbital Maneuvering System pod in bay 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility on 25 August 1995. Installation of the three Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) on Atlantis was completed on 5 September 1995, as were closeout operations on the Russian docking module. On 7 November, engineers determined that there was no additional work needed to verify

6270-480: The robot arm operated as expected and were ready to support the mating. The crew members also checked out the Advanced Space Vision System , a precise alignment system for the robot arm that was tested on STS-74. The OSVS, which was used during the mating operation, consisted of a series of large dots placed on the exterior of the docking module and the docking system. The day's schedule also included

6365-426: The science community minimized the loss of research data and capability. In an effort to restore some of the power and systems lost following the isolation of Spektr and to attempt to locate the leak, Mir 's new commander Anatoly Solovyev and flight engineer Pavel Vinogradov carried out a salvage operation later in the mission. They entered the empty module during a so-called "IVA" spacewalk, inspecting

6460-472: The shuttle's payload bay, ready for the docking of the module with Atlantis 's Orbiter Docking System on flight day 2. The five-member crew aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis spent the bulk of their first full day in space readying the orbiter and its payloads for the 14 November mating of the Russian docking module to the Orbiter Docking System in advance of the 15 November docking to Mir . Both

6555-454: The small number of viewing ports on the station and on the shuttle, most of the assembly and maintenance is done using cameras, which do not give stereoscopic vision, and thus do not allow a proper evaluation of depth. In addition the difficult conditions created by the particular conditions of illumination and obscurity in space, make it much more difficult to distinguish objects, even when the assembly work can be viewed directly, without using

6650-524: The smoothest of the entire Phase One program, featured weekly "Letters from the Outpost" from Thomas and passed two milestones for length of spaceflight—815 consecutive days in space by American astronauts since the launch of Shannon Lucid on the STS-76 mission in March 1996, and 907 days of Mir occupancy by American astronauts dating back to Norman Thagard's trip to Mir in March 1995. Thomas returned to Earth on

6745-532: The spacecraft separated at 12:01 p.m. EDT that day. With the landing of Discovery on June 12, 1998, the Phase One program concluded. Techniques and equipment developed during the program assisted the development of Phase Two: initial assembly of the International Space Station (ISS). The arrival of the Destiny Laboratory Module in 2001 marked the end of Phase Two and the start of Phase Three,

6840-469: The station, long-duration flights aboard Mir by American astronauts. The seven astronauts who took part in the Increments, Norman Thagard , Shannon Lucid , John Blaha , Jerry Linenger , Michael Foale , David Wolf and Andrew Thomas , were each flown in turn to Star City , Russia , to undergo training in various aspects of the operation of Mir and the Soyuz spacecraft used for transport to and from

6935-529: The station. During his Increment, Linenger became the first American to conduct a spacewalk from a foreign space station and the first to test the Russian-built Orlan-M spacesuit alongside Russian cosmonaut Vasili Tsibliyev . All three crewmembers of expedition EO-23 performed a "fly-around" in the Soyuz spacecraft, first undocking from one docking port of the station, then manually flying to and redocking

7030-427: The station. The Docking Module was designed to provide more clearance for Shuttles in order to prevent any collisions with Mir 's solar arrays during docking, a problem which had been overcome during STS-71 by relocating the station's Kristall module to a different location on the station. The module, attached to Kristall 's docking port, prevented the need for this procedure on further missions. During

7125-480: The three cosmonauts on board Mir , Valeri Polyakov , Viktor Afanasyev and Yury Usachev (flying Mir expeditions LD-4 and EO-15). 1995 began with the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on February 3. Discovery's mission, STS-63 , was the second Space Shuttle flight in the program and the first flight of the shuttle with a female pilot, Eileen Collins . Referred to as the "near- Mir " mission,

7220-463: The three onboard fuel cells, and water for the flight as a by-product. The initial launch attempt, scheduled for 11 November 1995 at 7:56 am EST (12:56  UTC ) was postponed due to poor weather at the Transatlantic Abort (TAL) site. The original launch window was 6 min 57 secs and the countdown had begun on schedule. The crew was on board when the postponement was called at

7315-461: The total transfer the most extensive yet. This, the fourth docking, also saw John Blaha transferring onto Mir to take his place as resident Increment astronaut. His stay on the station improved operations in several areas, including transfer procedures for a docked space shuttle, "hand-over" procedures for long-duration American crew members and "Ham" amateur radio communications. Two spacewalks were carried out during his time aboard. Their aim

7410-565: The two spacecraft to that date). The STS-81 crew also tested the Shuttle Treadmill Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System (TVIS), designed for use in the Zvezda module of the International Space Station. The shuttle's small vernier jet thrusters were fired during the mated operations to gather engineering data for "reboosting" the ISS. After undocking, Atlantis performed a fly-around of Mir , leaving Linenger aboard

7505-399: The two spacecraft, along with water, experiment samples, supplies and hardware. One of the first items transferred to Mir was an Elektron oxygen-generating unit. Atlantis was stopped three times while backing away during the undocking sequence on May 21. The aim was to collect data from a European sensor device designed for future rendezvous of ESA 's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) with

7600-499: The walls of the modules were immovable. The fire occurred during a crew rotation, and as such there were six men aboard the station rather than the usual three. Access to one of the docked Soyuz lifeboats was blocked, which would have prevented escape by half of the crew. A similar incident had occurred on an earlier Mir expedition, although in that case the SFOG burned for only a few seconds. Advanced Space Vision System Because of

7695-435: Was Space Transportation System (STS) , taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft of which it was the only item funded for development. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. In addition to the prototype, whose completion was cancelled, five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011, launched from

7790-408: Was a collaborative space program between Russia and the United States that involved American Space Shuttles visiting the Russian space station Mir , Russian cosmonauts flying on the Shuttle, and an American astronaut flying aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to allow American astronauts to engage in long-duration expeditions aboard Mir . The project, sometimes called "Phase One", was intended to allow

7885-549: Was anticipated to visit Mir , but its program was canceled after its first uncrewed spaceflight. Visiting US Space Shuttles used an Androgynous Peripheral Attach System docking collar originally designed for Buran, mounted on a bracket originally designed for use with the American Space Station Freedom . With the Space Shuttle docked to Mir , the temporary enlargements of living and working areas amounted to

7980-472: Was chosen to go on the Increment instead of astronaut Wendy Lawrence . Lawrence was deemed ineligible for flight because of a change in Russian requirements after the Progress supply vehicle collision. The new rules required that all Mir crew members should be trained and ready for spacewalks, but a Russian spacesuit could not be prepared for Lawrence in time for launch. The final year of Phase One began with

8075-453: Was constructed between 1986 and 1996 and was the world's first modular space station. It was the first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space, and previously held the record for longest continuous human presence in space, at eight days short of ten years. Mir 's purpose was to provide a large and habitable scientific laboratory in space, and, through a number of collaborations, including Intercosmos and Shuttle– Mir ,

8170-537: Was followed during the course of the project by nine Shuttle– Mir docking missions, from STS-71 to STS-91 . The Shuttle rotated crews and delivered supplies, and one mission, STS-74 , carried a docking module and a pair of solar arrays to Mir . Various scientific experiments were also conducted, both on shuttle flights and long-term aboard the station. The project also saw the launch of two new modules, Spektr and Priroda , to Mir , which were used by American astronauts as living quarters and laboratories to conduct

8265-431: Was launched aboard a Proton rocket and docked to Mir . Spektr carried more than 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of research equipment from America and other nations. The expedition's crew returned to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis following the first Shuttle– Mir docking during mission STS-71 . The primary objectives of STS-71, launched on June 27, called for the Space Shuttle Atlantis to rendezvous and perform

8360-418: Was lowered in the event that a problem during the mating process necessitated an emergency spacewalk. Crew members also mounted a centerline camera into the top hatch of the docking module. The camera later provided the primary visual cue for Cameron as he maneuvered Atlantis to its docking with Mir on flight day four. By 5:00 am EST, Atlantis was trailing Mir by about 1,450 statute miles and closing at

8455-553: Was made internationally accessible to cosmonauts and astronauts of many different countries. The station existed until March 23, 2001, at which point it was deliberately deorbited, and broke apart during atmospheric re-entry. Mir was based upon the Salyut series of space stations previously launched by the Soviet Union (seven Salyut space stations had been launched since 1971), and was mainly serviced by Russian-crewed Soyuz spacecraft and Progress cargo ships. The Buran space shuttle

8550-470: Was optimized to be the most worry free direct manipulation interface possible for the particular needs and work habits of the astronauts. The Canadian Space Agency was involved at several stages in the development and deployment of the space vision system. Training for the system takes place in the simulators located at the agency's headquarters at the John H. Chapman Space Centre near Montreal . The system

8645-526: Was the first shuttle flight of that year, the first flight of a Russian cosmonaut , Sergei Krikalev , aboard the American shuttle, and marked the start of increased cooperation in space for the two nations, 37 years after the Space Race began. Part of an international agreement on human space flight, the mission was the second flight of the Spacehab pressurized module and marked the hundredth " Getaway Special " payload to fly in space. The primary payload for

8740-507: Was the oldest and heaviest of the fleet, it was not suited for efficient operations at Mir 's (and later the ISS's ) 51.6-degree inclination – Columbia was therefore not retrofitted with the necessary external airlock and Orbital Docking System, and never flew to a space station. Phase One of the Shuttle– Mir program began on February 3, 1994, with the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on its 18th mission, STS-60 . The eight-day mission

8835-430: Was the third docking mission to Mir , which also demonstrated logistics capabilities through deployment of a Spacehab module, and placed experiment packages aboard Mir 's docking module, which marked the first spacewalk which occurred around docked vehicles. The spacewalks, carried out from Atlantis 's crew cabin, provided valuable experience for astronauts in order to prepare for later assembly missions to

8930-591: Was to remove electrical power connectors from a 12-year-old solar power array on the base block and reconnect the cables to the more efficient new solar power arrays. In all, Blaha spent four months with the Mir-22 cosmonaut crew conducting material science , fluid science , and life science research, before returning to Earth the next year aboard Atlantis on STS-81 . In 1997 STS-81 replaced Increment astronaut John Blaha with Jerry Linenger , after Blaha's 118-day stay aboard Mir . During this fifth shuttle docking,

9025-600: Was transferred to Neptec Design Group , a small commercial enterprise located in Kanata, a suburb of Ottawa . The system runs on Neptec's Advanced Vision Unit (AVU) processing platform, which handles video routing, algorithm processing, video overlays, and the system interface. The operating system is the Unix-like and POSIX compliant QNX Real-time operating system , running the Photon windowing interface. The Photon implementation

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