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Hoot Gibson commanded STS-71, a mission that featured a series of firsts for the historic Phase 1, International Space Station Program.
Commander Hoot Gibson successfully guided the Atlantis to its first docking with the Mir station exactly on schedule, June 29, 1995. The shuttle arrived with a crew of five American astronauts and the two Russian Cosmonauts who would be serving as the Mir 19 residents. Upon departure, Gibson's eight member crew featured Norm Thagard, the first American resident on the Mir and his two Mir-18 Russian crewmates.
Gibson became an astronaut in 1979, serving as commander and pilot on five shuttle missions. Prior to his NASA career, Gibson served in the United States Navy. He is a graduate of the Naval Fighter Weapons School, also known as "Topgun." Gibson flew combat missions in Southeast Asia and was an F-14A instructor pilot. He earned a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering from California Polytechnic State University.
Related
Links:
NASA
Biography: Robert Gibson
Robert
"Hoot" Gibson Video (15 sec.) MPEG 1.1M (No Audio)
U.S. Mir Residents | Astronauts | Cosmonauts | Teams | Oral Histories | Shuttle-Mir Stories
Curator:
Kim Dismukes
Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty