On this day in 1996, the Shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth on STS-76.
STS-76 became the third U.S. Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian orbital outpost Mir, transferring astronaut Shannon Lucid to the outpost for a long-duration stay.
The mission also provided the first SPACEHAB single module to Mir, which carried a large supply of equipment and spare parts, as well as the European Space Agency’s Biorack experiment rack.
Another first accomplished on the flight was the first U.S. spacewalk around two docked spacecraft, during which two U.S. astronauts would attach several Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP) experiments to Mir‘s Docking Module.
STS-76 was another in a long string of incredibly successful Shuttle missions that came to characterize the accomplishments of the Shuttle program. Besides providing important scientific returns, the mission also helped to strengthen the bonds within the international spaceflight community.
