1996-057A
The STS-79 stack was rolled to the pad in June 1996, but while Columbia was still in orbit it was discovered that the SRBs on STS-78 showed some hot gas damage. While managers were deciding whether the new field joint adhesive was to blame and contemplating using the STS-80 boosters instead, Hurricane Bertha forced a rollback to the VAB. Shortly afterwards, it was decided to go ahead with the SRB swap.
After another rollback to avoid Hurricane Fran, STS-79 was finally launched on Sep 16. The SRB joints were fine, but post flight inspection showed unusual gouges in the insulation of the nozzle of the right SRB. Shortly after MECO, APU number 2 failed which caused discussion about the possiblility of a shortened flight; in the end, managers decided to press ahead and the other two APUs had no problems. Atlantis docked with the SO on Mir on Sep 19, carefully avoiding the new solar panel on Kvant which hadn't been there during STS-76 and which extended to less than 5 meters from the orbiter's nose. A few hours later the crew greeted Lucid and the Russians in the Mir station.
Over the next few days, the crew transferred 1500 kg of cargo and 600 kg of water to Mir, and took 1000 kg of equipment and experiment samples back to Atlantis for return to Earth. The Orlan DMA-18 spacesuit was also stowed in the Spacehab. Later on Sep 19, Blaha officially replaced Lucid as part of the Mir crew.
| STS-79 | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Orbit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 Jun 24 | Tow to VAB | ||
| 1996 Jun 25 | ET mate | ||
| 1996 Jul 1 | Rollout to LC39A | ||
| 1996 Jul 10 | Rollback to VAB | ||
| 1996 Aug 2 | OV demate | ||
| 1996 Aug 3 | 0600 | OV tow to OPF/3 | |
| 1996 Aug 13 | OV tow to VAB | ||
| 1996 Aug | OV mate to ET/SRB | ||
| 1996 Aug 21 | Rollout to LC39A | ||
| 1996 Sep 4 | 0921 | Rollback to VAB/3 (Hurricane Fran) | |
| 1996 Sep 5 | 0651 | Rollout to LC39A | |
| 1996 Sep 16 | 0854:49 | Launch | |
| 0857:51 | SRB sep T+2:02 | ||
| 0903:24 | MECO T+8:33 | ||
| 0903:43 | ET sep | 82 x 296 x 51.6 | |
| 0908 | APU 2 shutdown | ||
| 0937:42 | OMS 2 48s 23m/s | 89.01 157 x 293 x 51.65 | |
| 0938:30 | OMS 2 CO | ||
| 1026 | PLBD open | ||
| 1209 | Deploy radiators | ||
| 1235:23 | OMS-3 NC1 53s 26m/s Raise perigee | ||
| 1236:16 | OMS 3 CO | ||
| 1245 | 89.89 244 x 293 x 51.65 | ||
| 1996 Sep 17 | 0051:39 | NC2 OMS-4 10s 2m/s | |
| 0100 | 89.97 247 x 298 x 51.64 | ||
| 1996 Sep 18 | 0029 | NC4 RCS 1m/s | |
| 0600 | 90.01 251 x 298 x 51.65 | ||
| 1137:32 | NC5 OMS-5 46s 22m/s | 90.82 252 x 376 x 51.65 | |
| 2300:21 | NC6 OMS-6 70s 35m/s | 92.05 371 x 378 x 51.65 | |
| 2335:40 | NCC RCS | ||
| 1996 Sep 19 | 0032:58 | TI burn OMS-7(L) 13s 3m/s | 92.16 375 x 385 x 51.65 |
| 0107 | Tally ho Mir | ||
| 0139 | At 3 km | ||
| 0153 | On +R bar | ||
| 0234 | At 150 ft | ||
| 0303 | Stationkeep at 10m | ||
| 0309? | Resume approach | ||
| 0311 | 6m and closing | ||
| 0313:20 | Docking SO | ||
| 0318 | Retract ODS | ||
| 0321:18 | Hard dock | ||
| 0350 | 92.19 375 x 388 x 51.65 | ||
| 0541 | Hatch open | ||
| 1100 | Formal crew exchange, Blaha to EO-22 | ||
| 1996 Sep 20 | 1400 | 92.19 376 x 386 x 51.65 | |
| 1996 Sep 23 | 0400 | 92.19 374 x 388 x 51.65 | |
| 1225 | Hatch closed | ||
| 1996 Sep 24 | 0131:48 | Undocked from Mir SO | |
| 0131:55 | RCS undocking | ||
| 0150 | Back off to 120 m | ||
| 0207 | Mir flyaround 1 | ||
| 0236 | Mir flyaround 2 (half circuit) | ||
| 0330 | 92.16 373 x 387 x 51.65 | ||
| 0336:49 | Sep burn RCS 11s | ||
| 1655:57 | RCS +x 10s for MSX | ||
| 2200 | 92.17 373 x 388 x 51.65 | ||
| 1996 Sep 25 | 0550 | DTO 837 RCS 18:44 Test vernier burn for HST reboost, 2m/s | |
| 0700 | 92.09 368 x 385 x 51.65 | ||
| 1996 Sep 26 | 0828 | PLBD closed | |
| 1106:14 | OMS DO 3:16 104.8m/s | ||
| 1109:30 | OMS DO CO | 19 x 378 x 51.6 | |
| 1141:23 | Entry interface 118 km | ||
| 1213:15 | MGTD KSC RW15, 10:03:18:26 | ||
| 1213:21 | Drag chute | ||
| 1213:29 | NGTD | ||
| 1213:58 | Chute sep | ||
| 1214:17 | Wheels stop | ||
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