STS-86

STS-86

Atlantis launches, beginning STS-86
Mission type	Shuttle-Mir
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	1997-055A
SATCAT №	24964
Mission duration	10 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, 12 seconds
Distance travelled	7,000,000 kilometres (4,300,000 mi)
Orbits completed	170
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Space Shuttle Atlantis
Landing mass	114,185 kilograms (251,735 lb)
Payload mass	8,375 kilograms (18,464 lb)
Crew
Crew size	7
Members	James D. Wetherbee Michael J. Bloomfield Vladimir G. Titov Scott E. Parazynski Jean-Loup Chrétien Wendy B. Lawrence
Launching	David A. Wolf
Landing	C. Michael Foale
Start of mission
Launch date	26 September 1997, 02:34:19 (1997-09-26UTC02:34:19Z) UTC
Launch site	Kennedy LC-39A
End of mission
Landing date	6 October 1997, 21:55 (1997-10-06UTC21:56Z) UTC
Landing site	Kennedy SLF Runway 15
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Perigee	354 kilometres (220 mi)
Apogee	381 kilometres (237 mi)
Inclination	51.6 degrees
Period	91.9 min
Docking with Mir
Docking port	SO starboard
Docking date	27 September 1997, 19:58 UTC
Undocking date	3 October 1997, 17:28:15 UTC
Time docked	5 days, 21 hours, 30 minutes 15 seconds
Left to right - Front row: Bloomfield, Wetherbee, Lawrence; Back row: Chrétien, Parazynski, Titov, Foale. Wolf was not assigned to the mission at the time of this photo Space Shuttle program ← STS-85 STS-87 →

Left to right - Front row: Bloomfield, Wetherbee, Lawrence; Back row: Chrétien, Parazynski, Titov, Foale. Wolf was not assigned to the mission at the time of this photo

STS-86 was a Space Shuttle Atlantis mission to the Mir space station. This was the last Atlantis mission before it was taken out of service temporarily for maintenance and upgrades, including the glass cockpit.

The seventh Mir Docking mission carried a SPACEHAB double module for the docking with Mir, cargo transfer and an astronaut exchange. The shuttle's previous Mir missions were STS-71, STS-74, STS-76, STS-79, STS-81 and STS-84.

Highlights of the 10-day mission include five days of docked operations between Atlantis and Mir and the exchange of crew members Foale and Wolf to continue a permanent American presence of the Russia complex. A spacewalk is scheduled to retrieve the four Mir Environmental Effects Payloads which were attached to the Mir's docking module by Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford during STS-76 to characterize the environment surrounding the Mir space station. Atlantis will carry the SPACEHAB double module to support the transfer of logistics and supplies for Mir and the return of experiment hardware and specimens to Earth.

The seventh Mir docking mission continued the presence of a U.S. astronaut on the Russian space station with the transfer of physician David A. Wolf to Mir. Wolf became the sixth U.S. astronaut in succession to live on Mir to continue Phase 1B of the NASA/Russian Space Agency cooperative effort.