September 18, 1997 STS-86 launch. Wendy Lawrence to replace Michael Foale.

MAXIMOV-MIR http://www.maximov.com/Mir/mir2.html

NASA Office of Space Flight - MIR Space Station http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/mir/Welcome.html

NASA SHUTTLE-MIR http://shuttle-mir.nasa.gov/

MSFC NASA MIR http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/mol/mir/mir.html

Ted Brattstrom's MIR page
http://165.248.121.94/MIR.html

Current Mir Location http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov:81/temp/mir_loc.html

Jerry's stay on Mir (132 days) was the second longest space flight for a U.S. astronaut. ( Shannon Lucid currently holds the U.S. endurance record (188 days) in space.

Mike Foale is scheduled to stay four months on the Mir Space Station. He is to be relieved by U.S. Astronaut Wendy Lawrence in September 1997 when she arrives at Mir with the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the STS-86 mission.

The next Progress resupply vehicle is scheduled to be launched on June 22 and dock on June 24.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Space Station Mir were docked for 5 days of joint operations from May 16 to May 21.

The crews of Atlantis and MIR moved more than two tones of food, water, clothing and other supplies and hardware from the Space Shuttle to Mir and moved another two tones of Russian hardware and science items from Mir to the Space Shuttle.

U.S. Astronaut C. Michael Foale became a member of the Mir crew, replacing Jerry Linenger .

Jerry's stay in space (132 days) was the second longest for U.S. astronauts. ( Shannon Lucid ) currently holds the U.S. endurance record in space.

On Flight Day 7 of the STS-84 mission, Space Shuttle Pilot Eileen Collins undocked Atlantis from Mir and slowly brought her ship away from the Russian space station. Collins held position at 90 feet and at 300 feet from Mir to conduct proximity sensor equipment experiments. Proximity data collection continued until the Atlantis reached a distance of 3300 feet below Mir when orbital forces begin to move the shuttle ahead of the station.

Atlantis and crew landed at the Kennedy Space Center May 24, 1997, at 9:28 a.m. (EDT)

STS-94 , scheduled to be launched on July 1, 1997, is the reflight of the STS-83 mission. STS-83, with its primary payload, the Microgravity Science Laboratory-1 (MSL-1, featuring 19 materials science investigations) was launched on April 4th, 1997 for a 16 day mission, but was required to return after only 4 days due to the failure of one of Columbia's three electricity-generating fuel cells.

FLIGHT -- ORBITER -- LAUNCH DATE

STS-94 -- Columbia -- July 1, 1997

bob STS-85 -- Discovery -- August 7, 1997

STS-86 -- Atlantis -- September 25, 1997 (ESTIMATED) (Originally scheduled for Launch September 18, 1997)

STS-87 -- Columbia -- November 13, 1997 (ESTIMATED)
(Originally scheduled for Launch October 9, 1997)

STS-88 -- Endeavour -- July 1998 (ESTIMATED)
(Originally scheduled for Launch December 4, 1997)

STS SPECS:
Crew Capacity: 8 (10 could be carried in an emergency)
Max Acceleration Load < 3Gs.
Orbital Altitude: 100 to 217 nautical miles.
Cargo bay dimensions: 15 feet diameter, 60 feet long.
Basic Mission Length: 7 days in space

ORBITERS:
Enterprise (OV-101): used for Approach and Landing Tests, the Enterprise now is property of the Smithsonian Institution and is at Dulles Airport, Va.
Columbia (OV-102): the first operational orbiter, STS-1 first launched on 12 April 81.
Challenger (OV-099): the second orbiter, flew 10 missions between 1983 and 1986 for a combined total of 69 days in space. On January 28, 1986, Challenger and her crew were lost in a launch accident.
Discovery (OV-103): the third orbiter, Discovery has flown 22 missions since its maiden voyage on August 30, 1984.
Atlantis: (OV-104): Atlantis has flown 18 missions since its first launch on October 3, 1985.
Endeavour: (OV-105): Replacing the Challenger and completing the 4-orbiter space shuttle fleet, Endeavor has flown 11 missions since its first launch on May 5, 1992.

PHASE I - SHUTTLE/MIR - 1994-1997 Remaining Phase I Shuttle Missions:

STS-86 Sep 1997 Atlantis/Mir

PHASE II - ASSEMBLY - 1997-1999
15 flights; 7 Russian, 7 U.S., 1 combined.
(Phase II completion = 3 person permanent crew)

PHASE III - ASSEMBLY - 1999-2002
29 flights: 21 U.S., 7 Russian, 1 French

ISS assembly will require 44 flights and take over 4.5 years to complete.

NASA International Space Station
http://issa-www.jsc.nasa.gov /index.shtml

Space Station This Week
http://spacelink.msfc.nasa.gov /NASA.Projects/Human.Space.Flight /Space.Station /Space.Station.This.Week/

Space Station Web - MSFC
http://station.msfc.nasa.gov/

ISS - Office of Space Flight - NASA HQ http://www.osf.hq.nasa.gov/iss/

On May 21, 1997, the first crew of the International Space Station held a press conference at the Johnson Space Center. Commander Bill Shepherd, Soyuz Commander Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev. Scheduled to launch aboard a Soyuz spacecraft in January 1999, the three will spend 5 months onboard before they change command with a crew arriving on a space shuttle and will return with that shuttle. May 21, 1997 JSC Press Conference

The Space Station Control Board approved a new baseline schedule that targets the first station launch for June 1998. This is an eight-month delay from the previous schedule and is the "direct result of funding delays in the construction of the service module, the primary Russian contribution to the early assembly of the station and a component that will supply the early living quarters, life support systems and propulsion."

The Russian funding has resumed and work is now rapidly progressing. Liftoff - Space Station

Remaining Phase I Shuttle Missions:

STS-86 Sep 1997 Atlantis/Mir (U.S. astronaut pickup)

PHASE II, the assembly phase, begins with a U.S./Russian mission in November 1997.

SPECS:

Total Crew Size = 6
Altitude: 190 to 230 nautical miles
Orbit Inclination: ~ 51.6 degrees
Total pressurized volume: ~ 46,200 cubic feet

International Partners:

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, United States