CAMILLE BOHANNON

Technical rendition of Atlantis docked to the Kristall module
of the Russian Mir Space Station. 

On June 29, 1995 the shuttle Atlantis docked with the Mir station
for the first time. This also marked the first in orbit docking of a
NASA spacecraft since the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission of July,
1975.

NASA’s Shuttle-Mir program continued for 11 missions and was
a crucial step towards the construction of the International Space
Station now in orbit.

Skylab, America’s first space station, was successfully launched
into an orbit around the earth. Eleven days later, U.S. astronauts
Charles Conrad, Joseph Kerwin, and Paul Weitz made the planned 
rendezvous with Skylab, repairing a jammed solar panel and
conducting scientific experiments during their 28-day stay
aboard the space station.

From left, Joseph P. Kerwin, science pilot; Paul J. Weitz,
pilot; and Charles Conrad Jr., commander.

A pair of NASA astronauts, who were stranded in space for more
than nine months, returned to Earth on Tuesday, landing in the
Gulf of America off Tallahassee, Florida, bringing an end to an unforeseen odyssey.

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore.

On June 29, 1995, the American space shuttle Atlantis docked
with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-
made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.

This historic moment of cooperation between former rival space programs was also the 100th human space mission in American
history.

(NASA) – America’s first space station, Skylab, launched into
Earth’s orbit on this day in history, May 14, 1973.

The unmanned space station blasted into space on a modified
Saturn V rocket at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. 

According to Space.com., this marked the last time the Saturn
V rocket was used in spaceflight.

Artist’s concept of Skylab space station cluster in Earth’s
orbit.