STS-84 Fact Sheet

By Cliff Lethbridge

STS-84 — Atlantis

84th Space Shuttle Mission

19th Flight of Atlantis

Crew:

Charles J. Precourt, Commander

Eileen M. Collins, Pilot

Jean-Francois Clervoy, Payload Commander

Carlos I. Noriega, Mission Specialist

Edward T. Lu, Mission Specialist

Elena V. Kondakova, Mission Specialist

Embarking to Mir:

C. Michael Foale, Mission Specialist

Returning from Mir:

Jerry M. Linenger, Mission Specialist

Orbiter Preparations:

Tow to Orbiter Processing Facility – January 22, 1997

Rollover to Vehicle Assembly Building – April 19, 1997

Rollout to Launch Pad 39A – April 24, 1997

Launch:

May 15, 1997 – 4:07:48 a.m. EDT. Launch occurred as scheduled with no delays.

Landing:

May 24, 1997 – 9:27:44 a.m. EDT at Runway 33, Kennedy Space Center. Rollout distance was 8,384 feet. Rollout time was 51 seconds. Mission duration was 9 days, 5 hours, 19 minutes, 56 seconds. Landing occurred during the 144th orbit. Landing occurred on the second opportunity of the day in order to allow low clouds to clear.

Mission Summary:

The primary goal of the mission was the sixth docking of a Space Shuttle to the Russian Mir Space Station, and the fourth successive transfer of a U.S. astronaut to Mir.

Astronaut Michael Foale replaced astronaut Jerry Linenger aboard the Mir. Linenger spent 123 days aboard Mir and logged a total of 132 days in space before returning to Earth.

Atlantis docked with Mir at 10:33 p.m. EDT on May 16, 1997 above the Adriatic Sea. Hatches between the two spacecraft were opened at 12:25 a.m. EDT on May 17, 1997. Foale officially replaced Linenger aboard Mir at 10:15 a.m. EDT on May 17, 1997.

Transfer of items to and from Mir went smoothly and was completed ahead of schedule. One of the primary items transferred to Mir was an Elektron oxygen generating unit. About 250 items weighing nearly 7,500 pounds were moved between the two spacecraft, including equipment, supplies, experiments and about 1,000 pounds of water.

In addition, a photo survey of Mir was conducted during joint docking operations. Environmental air samples were taken and radiation levels were monitored aboard Mir as well.

Experiments assigned to astronaut Foale during his stay aboard Mir centered around advanced technology, Earth observation, Earth remote sensing, fundamental biology, human life sciences, space station risk mitigation and microgravity science. Crystal growth and materials processing experiments were also assigned to Foale.

Atlantis undocked from Mir at 9:04 p.m. EDT on May 21, 1997. Unlike previous missions, Atlantis did not perform a fly-around of Mir after undocking. Atlantis was instead stopped three times as it backed away in order to collect data from a European sensor device.

Data collected during these maneuvers was intended to determine the sensor’s effectiveness in acting as a navigation aid during proposed docking operations between an unmanned European supply vehicle and the International Space Station.

During the mission, a number of experiments were conducted in the Biorack facility in the Spacehab Double Module housed in the payload bay of Atlantis.