First Space Shuttle to dock with Russian space station Mir 30 years ago this hour (June 29 1995)

1990s, space exploration


Video: 'STS-71 - First Shuttle-Mir Docking - Stabilized, Upscaled (1995/06/29) - Atlantis, Mir space station'

(Sunday, June 29, 1995, 13:00:16 UTC) — The space shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Mir space station docked for the first time today, doing it so flawlessly that space officials hope it will aid the joint ambitions of the Russian and American space programs.


Video: 'Docking of the Atlantis STS-71 with the Mir Space Station, June 29, 1995.'

Ten astronauts greeted one another with hugs, handshakes and kisses on the cheek, chattering away in Russian and English while speeding around the Earth at nearly five miles a second in the biggest craft ever assembled in space.