STS-74 Day 1 Highlights

On Sunday, November 12, 1995, 11 a.m. CST, STS-74 MCC Status Report # 01 reports:

About 43 minutes after launch, a two minute and 13 second engine firing changed the shuttle's path into a 162 nautical mile circular orbit. Once on orbit, the five crew members began configuring Atlantis for on-orbit operations. Atlantis' payload bay doors were opened about 90 minutes into the flight, followed by a "go" for on-orbit operations.

STS-74 Commander Ken Cameron and Pilot Jim Halsell, about three hours into the last flight of the year, fired the orbiter's reaction control jets in the first of a series of rendezvous burns that refined Atlantis' path to Mir. Shortly after that jet firing, the first Canadian mission specialist, Chris Hadfield, activated the Russian built docking module and its systems. The docking module is housed in Atlantis' payload bay. Hadfield will use the orbiter's robot arm early Tuesday to mate the docking module with the Atlantis' Orbiter Docking System prior to the orbiter's link-up with Mir early Wednesday. The docking is scheduled for 12:28 a.m. CST Wednesday.

On Sunday, November 12, 1995, 5 p.m. CST, STS-74 MCC Status Report # 02 reports:

Activities for the coming day will focus on preparing to connect the Russian Docking Module to the shuttle airlock and getting Mission Specialists Jerry Ross and Bill McArthur ready for a contingency space walk should anything unexpected happen during Tuesday's move of the docking module.

Maneuvers continuing the process of the shuttle rendezvous with Russia's Space Station Mir will resume at 10:11 p.m. CST when Commander Ken Cameron and Pilot Jim Halsell kick off the NC 2 burn. The NC 3 burn will occur at 10:09 a.m. CST Monday. Docking is scheduled for 12:28 a.m. CST Wednesday.

Mission Specialist Chris Hadfield will test the robot arm that will lift the module out of its payload bay moorings. With the help of Mission Specialist Bill McArthur, Hadfield also will power up and check the Orbiter Space Vision system that will be used to precisely align the robot arm. Cameron will set up the VHF radio gear that will be used for shuttle/Mir communications during the rendezvous.

Ross and McArthur will inspect their space suits and pre-breath pure oxygen for an hour and a half to purge nitrogen bubbles from their bodies and prevent a condition known as "the bends" should a space walk be necessary. The pair is not expected to don the space suits unless a space walk is required. The STS-74 crew also is scheduled to be interviewed by the Canadian news media beginning at 6:31 a.m. CST.

Go to STS-74 Flight Day 2 Highlights: