Nov 12 1995
From The Space Library
Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-74) is launched. On its second visit to Space Shuttle Mir, Atlantis added a permanent Russian-built docking port. The 15-foot, 9,000 pound docking tunnel came with two new solar arrays, one built in Russia and one provided by NASA, that would be assembled later. The link up, which occurred on November 15, required the pilot, Kenneth Cameron, to aim for a target about three inches in diameter and connect at a speed of less than one-tenth of a mile per hour. The quarter-million-pound spacecraft docked with Mir, of about the same weight, as they sped through space at 17,500 mph. They remained docked for three days. Mission STS-74 ended on November 20, paving the way toward assembly of the International Space Station beginning in November 1997.
The show went on despite a possible Government shutdown. Mission control jokingly told the five astronauts, "We expect you to show up for work, furlough or not." (NASA Release 95-192; NY Times, Nov 13/95, Nov 15/95, Nov 16/95, Nov 19/95 & Nov 21/95; W Post, Nov 13/95, Nov 14/95, Nov 15/95, Nov 16/95, Nov 19/95 & Nov 21/95; USA Today, Nov 13/95, Nov 14/95 & Nov 20/95; Fla Today, Nov 14/95 & Nov 23/95)
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