STS-76 Mission Control Center
Status Report # 4

Sunday, March 24, 1996 1 a.m. CST

The JSC Newsroom will be open until 11 AM Central time Sunday before
closing until 2 AM Monday.

The following is the latest status report on the STS-76 mission:

Following a flawless rendezvous, Atlantis successfully docked to the
Russian Mir space station as Commander Kevin Chilton gently guided Atlantis
to a linkup at 8:34 PM Central time Saturday night.

A little less than two hours later, Mission Specialist Rich Clifford
completed safing and pressurizing Atlantis' docking vestibule and the
hatches were opened between the two spacecraft as Atlantis' crew was
greeted by Mir 21 Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Yuri
Usachev. Shortly after the hatch opening and initial greetings, the shuttle
crew moved into the Mir and astronaut Shannon Lucid officially became the
third member of the Mir-21 crew, embarking on a 4 1/2 month stay in space
to inaugurate a permanent U.S. presence in space on Mir for the next two
years. Lucid will be replaced by astronaut John Blaha in August. Onufrienko
and Usachev were launched on a Soyuz rocket to the Mir on February 21st.
They'll return to Earth in July after a replacement crew of Russian
cosmonauts and a French researcher joins Lucid aboard the Mir.

As is traditional, the crews exchanged gifts during a short welcoming
ceremony in the Mir Core module, with the Mir crew giving Atlantis'
astronauts a variety of placards and memorabilia. Atlantis' crew gave the
cosmonauts commemorative shirts, chocolate Easter bunnies and two books,
including autographed copies of Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell's "Lost
Moon," on which the movie "Apollo 13" was based. Chilton described the
rendezvous, docking and initial moments on the Mir as "unreal."

Following safety briefings for both crews on each other's respective
spacecraft, the astronauts and cosmonauts began transferring more than a
ton of water, Russian supplies, science equipment and other gear from the
shuttle to Mir. The transfer of equipment will continue through much of the
five days Atlantis is docked with the Mir.

Early Wednesday morning, while Atlantis is still docked to the Mir,
Clifford and Mission Specialist Linda Godwin will perform a six-hour
spacewalk outside Atlantis to affix four experiment packages to the
exterior of the Mir docking module.

The 230-ton Atlantis-Mir complex is orbiting the Earth every 90 minutes at
an altitude of about 240 statute miles with all systems on both craft
operating normally.

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                         STS-75 MCC Status Reports

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                          Curator: Terry McDonald
                 Responsible NASA Official: Kelly Humphries
                           Updated: 7 March 1996