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Emotional farewell marks Atlantis undocking
March 28, 1996
Web posted at: 8:55 p.m. ESTKENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- After five days of docked flight about 250 miles above Earth, space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts unlatched their craft from Russian space station Mir and began their voyage home.
One Atlantis crew member, Shannon Lucid, remained on Mir for a five-month stay in orbit.
The farewell ceremony was a tearful moment for all eight space travelers, but especially for shuttle commander Kevin Chilton, who wiped his eyes and embraced cosmonauts Yuri Onufrienko and Yuri Usachev.
"We know we'll see Shannon again when she comes back," Chilton said. "But there's a big ocean between Russia and America, and we're not so confident, or sure, or certain I should say, that we'll ever see our two friends Yuri and Yuri again ... in person."
Usachev said he wished they could remain together longer, "but Shannon is with us now ... and we'll do the good work that needs to be done."
With that, the astronauts and cosmonauts clasped hands and then retreated to their respective spacecraft and sealed the hatches for the undocking. The undocking was completed at 8:08 p.m. EST (0108 GMT) Thursday.
Lucid is the second American -- and the first U.S. woman -- to live aboard Mir. When she returns to Earth in August aboard a shuttle, the 53-year-old biochemist and mother of three grown children will have spent more time in space than any other American.
NASA ordered the Atlantis crew home Saturday, one day earlier than planned, because bad weather was forecast. (663K QuickTime movie)
"If there had been any barriers between us, then we have managed to come closer together," said Usachev. "We've done a great deal of good work."
Chilton fought back tears and his voice quivered as he reflected over the past five days with the Mir cosmonauts.
"We're going to miss them," he simply said.
Chilton did muster up some humor when he talked about leaving Lucid aboard Mir for a five-month stay.
"I guess you'd normally get in trouble for coming back one person short," Chilton told CBS News. "This time, I think we'll get a pat on the back."
An American will stay on the Russian space station over the next two years, and if the planned international space station is launched on schedule in 1998, Americans will remain in space well into the foreseeable future.
Lucid is the first American woman to live aboard Mir and only the second American. U.S. Astronaut Norman Thagard stayed aboard Mir for nearly four months last year.
The eight astronauts signed placards commemorating the five-day docking, the third between Atlantis and Mir.
American astronauts Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford provided one of the highlights of the trip when they embarked on a six-hour spacewalk, marking the first American spacewalk outside a station in 22 years.
In addition, the shuttle dropped off more than 5,000 pounds of supplies, including experiment equipment and water, and retrieved some Russian equipment.
Related Stories:
- Views of the Earth from space shuttle Atlantis
- 'It was fun'
- Astronauts prepare for historic spacewalk
- Atlantis gracefully docks with Mir
- High winds delay shuttle launch
- Hydraulic leak won't shorten shuttle mission
- Russian space center lies in ruins
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