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Shuttle-Mir Background - Rendezvous and Docking

During STS-71, on June 29,1995, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with the Russian space station Mir. It marked the first time since the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Project that the two nations had linked up in space.

Rendezvous and docking are among the big successes of the Shuttle-Mir Program. Rendezvous required what shuttle commander "Hoot" Gibson called an orbital "ballet" between two spacecraft. Docking required a precision approach and specially designed equipment to mate the shuttle with Mir.

The following links cover different aspects and descriptions of rendezvous and docking.

Related Links:
Apollo-Soyuz
Wetherbee on First Rendezvous
STS-71 First Docking (video)

Docking Module
Blaha on Launch and Docking

Gemini 6 & 7 Rendezvous (video)

STS-63

Tours | Timeline | Shuttle-Mir Background | Shuttle Flights & Mir Increments | Mir Expeditions


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