STS-81 was a January 1997

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

''Atlantis'' mission to the

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

space station.

Crew

Crew seat assignments

Mission highlights

STS-81 was the fifth of nine planned missions to

and the second one involving an exchange of U.S. astronauts. Astronaut John Blaha, who had been on Mir since September 19, 1996, was replaced by astronaut Jerry Linenger. Linenger spent more than four months on Mir. He returned to Earth on Space Shuttle Mission STS-84. ''Atlantis'' carried the

SPACEHAB Astrotech Corporation, formerly Spacehab Inc., is a technology incubator headquartered in Austin, Texas. Astrotech uses technology sourced internally and from research institutions, government laboratories, and universities to fund, manage and se ...

double module providing additional middeck locker space for secondary experiments. During the five days of docked operations with Mir, the crews transferred water and supplies from one spacecraft to the other. A

spacewalk Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environme ...

by Linenger and one of his Russian

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

crewmates occurred after the departure of ''Atlantis''. The STS-81 mission included several experiments in the fields of advanced technology,

Earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

s, fundamental

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

, human life sciences,

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

, and

space sciences The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science: Space science – field that encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and physical bodie ...

. It was hoped that data would supply insight for the planning and development of the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

, Earth-based sciences of human and biological processes, and the advancement of commercial technology. On January 18, while ''Atlantis'' was docked to Mir, Grunsfeld placed a telephone call to the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

show ''

Car Talk ''Car Talk'' is a metonym for the humorous work of "Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers", Tom and Ray Magliozzi, on automobile repair. Originally, ''Car Talk'' was a radio show that ran on National Public Radio (NPR) from 1977 until Octobe ...

'', hosted by two of Grunsfeld's fellow

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

alumni, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. STS081-748-019

STS-81 involved the transfer of of logistics to and from the Mir, the largest transfer of items to date. During the docked phase, of water, of U.S. science equipment, of Russian logistics along with of miscellaneous material was transferred to Mir. Returned to Earth aboard ''Atlantis'' was of U.S. science material, of Russian logistics and of miscellaneous material. First Shuttle flight of 1997 highlighted by return of U.S. astronaut John Blaha to Earth after 118-day stay aboard Russian Space Station Mir and the largest transfer to date of logistics between the two spacecraft. ''Atlantis'' also returned carrying the first plants to complete a life cycle in space — a crop of wheat grown from seed to seed. This fifth of nine planned dockings continued Phase 1B of the NASA/

Russian Space Agency The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research. Originating from ...

cooperative effort, with Linenger becoming the third U.S. astronaut in succession to live on Mir. Same payload configuration flown on previous docking flight — featuring SPACEHAB Double module — flown again. Blaha joined Mir 22 crew of Commander

Valeri Korzun Valery Grigoryevich Korzun (, born 5 March 1953) is a former Russian cosmonaut. He has been in space twice totalling 381 days. He has also conducted four career spacewalks. Personal He is a Russian Air Force Colonel and cosmonaut of Yuri Gagari ...

and Flight Engineer

Aleksandr Kaleri Aleksandr "Sasha" Yuriyevich Kaleri (; born in Jūrmala, Latvia on 13 May 1956) is a former Russian cosmonaut and veteran of extended stays on the Mir Space Station and the International Space Station (ISS). Kaleri has most recently been in space ...

on September 19, 1996, when he arrived there with the crew of STS-79. Linenger worked with the Mir 22 crew until the arrival in February of the Mir 23 crew of Commander Vasili Tsibliev, Flight Engineer

Aleksandr Lazutkin Aleksandr Ivanovich Lazutkin (; born October 30, 1957) is a former Russian cosmonaut. Life and career Lazutkin attended the Moscow Aviation Institute and received a degree in mechanical engineering. He was selected as a cosmonaut on March 3, 19 ...

and German researcher Reinhold Ewald. Ewald returned to Earth with the Mir 22 cosmonauts after a brief stay on the station. Astronaut Michael Foale replaced Linenger on Mir when the STS-84 mission arrived in May 1997. STS81 Atlantis Landing

Docking occurred at 22:55 EST, January 14, followed by hatch opening at 00:57 January 15. Linenger officially traded places at 04:45 with Blaha who spent 118 days on the station and 128 days total on-orbit. During five days of mated operations, crews transferred nearly 6,000 pounds (2,722 kilograms) of logistics to Mir, including around of water; around of U.S. science equipment; and of Russian logistical equipment. About of materials returned with ''Atlantis'' from Mir. Crew also tested on Shuttle the Treadmill Vibration Isolation and Stabilization System (TVIS), designed for use in the Russian Service Module of the International Space Station. Another activity related to International Space Station involved firing the orbiter's small vernier jet thrusters during mated operations to gather engineering data. Undocking occurred at 09:15 EST, January 19, followed by fly around of Mir. No significant in-flight anomalies were experienced with ''Atlantis''.

Wake-up calls

NASA began a tradition of playing music to astronauts during the

Gemini program Project Gemini () was the second United States human spaceflight program to fly. Conducted after the first American crewed space program, Project Mercury, while the Apollo program was still in early development, Gemini was conceived in 1961 and ...

, which was first used to wake up a flight crew during

Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the Apollo program and the fourth Moon landing. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greate ...

. Each track is specially chosen, often by their families, and usually has a special meaning to an individual member of the crew, or is applicable to their daily activities.

References

External links