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Atlantis leaves Mir
May 22, 1997
Web posted at: 1:20 a.m. EDT (0120 GMT)JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Texas (CNN) -- NASA's space shuttle Atlantis undocked without a hitch from Russia's Mir station Wednesday, leaving behind U.S. astronaut Michael Foale for a four-month stay.
The undocking occurred on time at 9:04 p.m. EDT, 245 miles (395 km) above Earth, as NASA simultaneously broadcast images of the separation from cameras on Atlantis and Mir.
"Bye bye!" crew members were heard to say as the two spacecraft pulled apart. The Mir crew wished their Atlantis colleagues a safe landing, scheduled Saturday.
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VXtreme streaming video: Crew members say their goodbyes |
Earlier in the day, astronauts and cosmonauts shook hands and hugged one last time in orbit before sealing the hatches between their spacecraft, which were linked for five days.
Atlantis delivered to Mir a new oxygen generator and other crucial repair equipment, as well as Foale, the replacement for U.S. astronaut Jerry Linenger. This was the sixth time Atlantis had docked with Mir.
NASA approved Foale's stay on Mir after most of the recent malfunctions were corrected. The British-born astronaut said he had no qualms living aboard the troubled, 11-year-old space station.
"As far as my worries, I don't really have any right now," Foale said. "As long as we keep working hard with the ground and keep the supplies coming, we can maintain these things."
Linenger, 42, was elated to be going home after four difficult months aboard the aging Mir that included a serious fire, problems with life support systems and leaks in the cooling systems.
"I'm going fishing!" he said. "What I miss most are things like fresh air and the breeze in my face."
His wife, Kathryn, is due to give birth to their second child in June. "I have a whole list of to-do things for him. He will not be bored," she said.
Linenger will have spent 132 days in orbit if Atlantis lands Saturday as planned, the next-to-longest space flight by an American. Shannon Lucid's 1996 Mir mission lasted 188 days. Foale's visit is supposed to last 135 days.
Linenger, a doctor, said it was "a tough time," but added: "Any adventure like that when you come close to pushing the envelope and survive, it's a great adventure, and in retrospect I have no regrets whatsoever."
Nonetheless, Linenger was the first one into Atlantis when it came time to close the doors. Foale, staying with his Russian crewmates, Vasily Tsibliev and Alexander Lazutkin, smiled as he watched his American colleagues float away one by one.
"It's a little bit sad, of course, because a thrilling flight is coming to an end," said shuttle commander Charles Precourt.
The 11-year-old Mir needed the new oxygen generator as soon as possible as a backup. The generator now in use is unreliable; it stopped working for a while in March because of a clogged filter.
Atlantis also dropped off clamps and plugs to repair a leaky cooling loop, extra lithium-hydroxide canisters to purge carbon dioxide from Mir's air, and a valve for a spare carbon dioxide-removal system yet to be built.
Two more Americans are to live on Mir over the next year, providing NASA with valuable practice for construction of the international space station beginning in 1998.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Special sections:
CNN Interactive's extended coverageRelated stories:
- Shuttle Atlantis makes repair call to Mir - May 16, 1997
- NASA struggles to finish space station with Russians - April 18, 1997
- Space station crew waits for supply ship - April 5, 1997
- Mir's age begins to show - April 5, 1997
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