Atlantis (OV-104) is set to lift off from Launch Pad 39A into a 196-245 statute mile orbit (315-394 kilometers) at a 51.6-degree inclination to the equator. The launch window is seven minutes long.

Atlantis’ 15th flight is scheduled to conclude with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center. The planned mission duration is approximately eight days.

The Shuttle flights to Mir are part of the first phase of the international space station program. This multinational effort brings together the United States, Russia, member nations of the European Space Agency, Canada and Japan in a quest to establish a permanently inhabited orbiting laboratory. In addition to the Shuttle-Mir linkups, Phase I includes scientific research aboard Mir by the United States, an astronaut-cosmonaut exchange program between the two nations, re-supply to the nearly 10-year-old Mir to maintain its on-orbit capabilities, and joint planning and operations between the U.S. and Russian space programs that will help pave the way toward the multinational space station.

STS-74 crew
Heading up the five-member flight crew is Commander Kenneth D. Cameron (Col., USMC), who will be embarking on his third trip into space. Cameron flew his first mission as pilot on STS-37 in 1991, and served as commander on his second flight, STS-56, in 1993. He has participated in Phase I activities since early on, having been named the first director of operations-Russia in February 1994. Cameron spent time at the Russian cosmonaut training facility in Star City, and Mission Control in Kaliningrad, both outside Moscow. He oversaw U.S. astronaut training at Star City and worked with the Russian Space Agency on joint Shuttle/Mir flight operations and planning.

James D. Halsell Jr. (Lt. Col., USAF) is the STS-74 pilot. Selected as an astronaut in January 1990, he has flown in space once before, on STS-65 in 1994.

Three mission specialists are assigned to STS-74. William S. "Bill" McArthur Jr. (Lt. Col., USA) first flew on Mission STS-58 in 1993. He will serve as mission specialist 3. Spaceflight veteran Jerry L. Ross (Col., USAF) is making his fifth spaceflight, having previously flown on Missions STS 61-B, -27, -37 and -55. As mission specialist 2 on STS-74, he also is the flight engineer. Chris A. Hadfield (Maj., CAF), mission specialist 1, becomes the fourth Canadian to fly on the U.S. Shuttle, joining Marc Garneau (STS 41-G), Roberta Bondar (STS-42) and Steven MacLean (STS-52).

The mission
The primary payload of Mission STS-74 is the Russian-built Mir-2 Docking Module (DM), the first payload flight hardware to be received in the Space Station Processing Facility at KSC. The DM will be installed on Mir’s Kristall module docking port -- the node to which the orbiter attaches -- to become a permanent extension to the station complex.

If the DM were not available, the Kristall module would have to be moved from its radial axis to the longitudinal axis every time the Shuttle docked in order to provide adequate clearance between the orbiter and Mir’s existing solar panels. Locating the Kristall on the longitudinal axis is undesirable because this is a re-supply/crew module docking port, and because there are inherent risks in having to continually move the Kristall module back and forth.

The DM is a pressurized module about 7.2 feet wide (2.2 meters) and 15.4 feet (4.7 meters) long. RSC Energia built the DM under contract to the Russian Space Agency in agreement with NASA, and Rockwell Aerospace provided technical oversight.

The DM is launched in the aft section of Atlantis’ payload bay. Installed in the forward area is the U.S./Russian-built Orbiter Docking System (ODS). The ODS served as the connection point between the orbiter and the Kristall module docking port during the STS-71 mission in June-July earlier this year. Rockwell Aerospace oversaw development of the ODS, with RSC Energia serving as a subcontractor. During the mission, the DM will first be attached to the ODS, then mated to the Kristall docking port.

Mounted on top of the ODS, either end of the DM and the Kristall docking node is the standard interface for Mir linkups, the Russian-designed Androgynous Peripheral Assembly (or Docking) System (APAS or APDS). The APDS also was built by RSC Energia; an earlier version supported the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975, and a similar mechanism will be used on the international space station.

Piggybacking a ride to Mir on the DM are two solar arrays which will eventually supply power to the station. One array was built as a cooperative project between the United States and Russia, combining proven Russian structures and mechanisms with advanced U.S. solar array modules. The second array is made of all Russian components. The arrays are stowed on either side of the DM, and will be removed and installed on Mir during a spacewalk to be completed sometime after STS-74. In addition to extending Mir’s lifetime, the arrays also will support U.S. science and technology research on the station.

On Flight Day 3, the DM will be unberthed and installed on the ODS using the orbiter’s Remote Manipulator Arm. A centerline camera will be installed to serve as the primary rendezvous/docking aid.

Atlantis will dock to Mir on Flight Day 4. During docked operations, supplies will be transferred from the orbiter to Mir, including drinking water, and experiment samples transferred from Mir to Atlantis for return to Earth. A ceremonial gift exchange between the Atlantis crew and Mir 20 Commander Yuri Gidzenko, Flight Engineer Sergei Avdeyev and cosmonaut Thomas Reiter of Germany also will take place.

Undocking will occur on Flight Day 7. The Shuttle crew will disconnect the ODS from the DM, leaving it permanently attached to the Kristall docking port. All future hookups between the Shuttle and Mir will be via the DM.

Additional payloads
Also flying in Atlantis’ cargo bay is the IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC), a 65- mm color motion picture camera. The camera will be used to film the DM installation on the ODS, the Mir rendezvous, docking and separation burn.

Another payload located in the cargo bay is the Glow Experiment (GLO- 4)/Photogrammetric Appendage Structural Dynamics Experiment (PASDE) Payload (GPP). The GPP payload consists of a Hitchhiker carrier designed for side-mounting in the payload bay. The GLO-4 will make measurements of Shuttle glow phenomena, while the PASDE will record structural data from various Mir appendages during docking operations.

The crew will take advantage of the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment-II (SAREX-II) to talk to ham radio operators, including students, around the world.

KSC processing
Atlantis flew for the first time on Oct. 3, 1985, on STS 51-J. Atlantis completed its most recent trip, Mission STS-71, with a landing at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility on July 7. Rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building for mating with the external tank/twin solid rocket booster assembly took place on Oct. 3, and was followed by rollout to Pad 39A on Oct. 12.

The ODS was removed from Atlantis after STS-71 and taken to the offline Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) Facility inside the Vehicle Assembly Building to be prepared for STS-74. Its protective thermal blankets were removed and most of its external electrical cabling taken off and replaced with new cables and a connector switchbox that will allow control of the APDS interfaces on the ODS as well as the DM.

In parallel with this work, the APDS from STS-71 was removed from the ODS. A new APDS was installed on the ODS outfitted with four umbilicals to provide power, control and telemetry to the DM and its APDS interfaces once the module is installed atop the ODS.

The DM arrived at KSC on June 7. Russian Space Agency and RSC Energia technicians completed offline preflight preparations in the Space Station Processing Facility before turning the module over to KSC on Aug. 14. After transport to the Operations and Checkout Building, the DM underwent Cargo Integration Test Equipment (CITE) stand testing to insure compatibility with orbiter interfaces. It was transferred to the Orbiter Processing Facility on Sept. 11 for installation in the payload bay of Atlantis. An electrical check called the Interface Verification Test (IVT) using ground support equipment cables was conducted in the OPF to insure a smooth interface between the ODS, DM and orbiter.