STS-63

Mission Profile

Overview

STS-63 was the "near-Mir" mission, the first shuttle rendezvous with Russia's space station and the dress rehearsal for the dockings to come under the Shuttle-Mir program. It made history at the controls: Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a Space Shuttle. Aboard too was veteran Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov, a Mir long-duration record-holder, helping bridge the two former rivals' programs. After a thruster leak nearly forced a cancellation of the close approach, commander James Wetherbee threaded Discovery to within roughly 11 meters of Mir as the crews waved through the windows and Wetherbee radioed, "next time, we will shake your hand." Bernard Harris and Michael Foale then performed a spacewalk that made Harris the first African American and Foale the first British-born person to walk in space. The crew also deployed and retrieved the SPARTAN-204 free-flyer.

Crew

Key Milestones

1. 1995-02-03

   Discovery launches with Eileen Collins as the first female Shuttle pilot

2. 1995-02-06

   Discovery closes to about 11 meters of Mir, the first Shuttle-Mir rendezvous

3. 1995-02-09

   Harris and Foale spacewalk; first African American and first British-born EVA

4. 1995-02-11

   Discovery lands at Kennedy Space Center after 129 orbits

Key Achievements

• First Space Shuttle rendezvous with the Mir space station

• Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a Space Shuttle

• First African American (Bernard Harris) and first British-born person (Michael Foale) to walk in space

• Deployed and retrieved the SPARTAN-204 free-flying observatory

Related Missions

Sources

1. NASA: 30 Years Ago: STS-63, First Shuttle and Mir Rendezvous Mission
2. Wikipedia: STS-63