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Credit & Copyright: STS-76 Crew,
NASA
Explanation:
This
dream-like image
of Mir
was recorded by astronauts as the Space Shuttle
Atlantis
approached the Russian space station prior to docking during
the STS-76 mission.
Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels,
Mir resembles a whimsical flying insect hovering about 350 kilometers
above New Zealand's
South Island and the city of Nelson
near Cook Strait.
In late March 1996, Atlantis shuttled astronaut
Shannon W.
Lucid to Mir for a five month visit,
increasing Mir's occupancy from 2 to 3.
It returned to pick Lucid up and drop off
astronaut
John Blaha during
the STS-79 mission in August of that year.
Since becoming operational in 1986,
Mir has
been visited by over 100 spacefarers from
the nations of planet Earth including,
Russia, the United States, Great Britain,
Germany, France, Japan, Austria,
Kazakhstan and Slovakia.
After joint
Shuttle-Mir
training missions in support of the
International
Space Station, continuous occupation of Mir ended in August 1999.
The Mir was deorbited
in March 2001.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Mir - space station - space shuttle
Publications with words: Mir - space station - space shuttle
See also: