STS-74

STS-74 was Atlantis' November 1995 Shuttle-Mir mission and the second docking between a U.S. Space Shuttle and Russia's Mir station. The crew launched from Kennedy Space Center's Pad 39A on November 12, 1995, with Kenneth Cameron commanding, James Halsell as pilot, and Chris Hadfield, Jerry Ross, and William McArthur as mission specialists. NASA describes the flight as a Shuttle-Mir Phase I mission that continued operational preparation for the International Space Station partnership. The mission's main hardware task was delivery of the Russian-built Docking Module, which became a permanent Mir extension to improve clearance for later Shuttle-Mir dockings. Hadfield operated Atlantis' robotic arm to lift and align the module with the Orbiter Docking System, after which Atlantis docked with Mir on November 15. The joined crews transferred water, equipment, experiment samples, and supplies, while the Shuttle crew supported the station hardware work without a crew exchange. STS-74 also carried strong international visibility: Hadfield represented the Canadian Space Agency and became the first Canadian mission specialist on a Shuttle flight, while the payload bay combined Canadian, U.S., Russian, and U.S.-Russian hardware. Atlantis undocked from Mir on November 18 and landed at Kennedy Space Center on November 20, 1995. The flight strengthened the Shuttle-Mir docking sequence after STS-71 and set up the clearance needed for later Shuttle visits to Mir.