November 12, 1995
Web posted at: 10:20 a.m. EST
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (CNN) -- Space shuttle Atlantis began an eight-day mission Sunday despite low clouds and bad weather over Kennedy Space Center and at one of its emergency landing sites in Spain that had threatened to postpone the launch for a second day in a row. Highlight of the mission will be the shuttle's docking with Russia's Mir space station. (700K QuickTime movie)
After the weather cleared enough at both sights to allow launch managers to decide they wouldn't create a serious obstruction, Atlantis lifted off at 7:30 a.m. EST. (850K QuickTime movie)
Bad weather at the shuttle's three emergency landing strips across the Atlantic delayed Saturday's scheduled launch. If the shuttle were to have an engine failure after launch the crew would try to land at Zaragoza, Spain.
The goal of this trip is to attach a Russian-built docking tunnel to the Mir. It will be the first time astronauts have added a piece to an orbiting spacecraft. The tunnel will allow the shuttle to dock with Mir without getting too close to the delicate solar panels and other instruments that stick out of the Russian space station. Once it's attached, the tunnel will be used for all future shuttle-space station docking missions.
Atlantis and its crew of five astronauts are ready to dock with the Mir at 1:15 a.m. EST on Wednesday. The two ships will separate three days later, at 3 a.m. EST Saturday. The docking procedure is one of the most critical exercises for astronauts. When it was tried four months ago for the first time, it worked perfectly. Shuttle Commander Ken Cameron and Pilot James Halsell have been training for the docking for months.
Before the docking, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield will operate the Canadian robot arm on board Atlantis to properly position the tunnel in the shuttle's cargo bay. During the two-hour approach and docking procedure, the shuttle will approach from below the Mir, allowing Earth's gravity to slow its approach and make sure the docking is precise. After the tunnel is attached, experiments and supplies for the Cosmonauts will be transferred to Mir. Included will be drinking water, new test and experimental equipment and some presents, including a fold up classical guitar.
After its three days attached to Mir, the shuttle will carefully back away and make a dramatic flight in reverse around the station, taking photographs to document the historic mission. Then the crew will prepare for their return to Earth next week.
The Mir Cosmonauts, two Russians and one German, watched the launch preparations Saturday through a special ground-to-space uplink that mission controllers in Russia also will use to watch the docking.
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