Shuttle-Mir History/Shuttle Flights & Mir Increments/STS-63

Mir Space Station hardware and modules as viewed from the Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-63.

STS-63: First Rendezvous with Mir

Space Shuttle: Discovery

February 3-10, 1995

Crew: Wetherbee, Collins, Harris, Foale, Voss, Titov.

Referred to as the "near Mir" mission, STS-63 had special importance as a dress rehearsal for the missions that would rendezvous and dock with Mir. Discovery approached within 12.2 meters of Mir, then backed off to 122 meters and performed a fly-around.

The six-person crew included the second Russian cosmonaut, Vladimir Titov, to fly on the space shuttle. The crew deployed the Spartan-204, a free-flying, retrievable spacecraft that made astronomical observations in the far ultraviolet spectrum. The mission included the third operation of the commercially developed Spacehab module, with its array of 20 technological, biological, and other scientific experiments, including a cooperative investigation with the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, to study radio-biological effects and sensory motor performance. Astronauts Harris and Foale performed a spacewalk to test spacesuit modifications and demonstrate large-object handling techniques.

Related Links:
STS-63 (KSC Spaceflight Archive)
Titov: on Seeing Mir Again
STS-63: Propellant Leak and Flight Team Cooperation
Science
Shuttle Flights and Mir Increments
STS-63: Montage (proximity) (video)
Timeline
Rendezvous and Docking
James Wetherbee Oral History (PDF)
Michael Foale Oral History (PDF)
Vladimir Titov Oral History (PDF)

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