STS-63
View from Discovery of Mir with the Progress M-25 (top) and Soyuz-TM Vityaz (bottom) spacecraft | |
| Names | Space Transportation System-63 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Research Mir rendezvous |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1995-004A |
| SATCAT no. | 23469 |
| Mission duration | 8 days, 6 hours, 28 minutes, 15 seconds |
| Distance travelled | 4,816,454 km (2,992,806 mi) |
| Orbits completed | 129 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | Space Shuttle Discovery |
| Payload mass | 8,641 kg (19,050 lb) |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 6 |
| Members | |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | February 3, 1995, 05:22:04 UTC (12:22:04 am EST) |
| Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39B |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | February 11, 1995, 11:50:19 UTC (6:50:19 am EST) |
| Landing site | Kennedy, SLF Runway 15 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 275 km (171 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 342 km (213 mi) |
| Inclination | 51.6° |
| Period | 92.3 minutes |
Mission insignia Standing: Harris and Foale Seated, from left: Voss, Collins, Wetherbee and Titov | |
STS-63 was the second mission of the U.S.-Russian Shuttle–Mir program and the 20th flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. Dubbed the "Near-Mir" mission, it achieved the first rendezvous between an American Space Shuttle and Russia's space station, Mir. Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B on February 3, 1995, in a night launch. This mission featured several milestones, Eileen Collins became the first female pilot of a Space Shuttle and the first extravehicular activities for both a U.K. born astronaut, Michael Foale, and an astronaut of African heritage, Bernard A. Harris, Jr. STS-63 also successfully deployed and retrieved the Spartan-204 (Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy 204) and executed a flyaround of Mir, a critical rehearsal for the upcoming STS-71 mission, which would mark the first shuttle docking with the Russian space station.