The STS-76 Atlantis launched 22 March 1996, from Pad 39-B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It was the 76th Shuttle Mission and the 3rd MIR docking.

The crew consisted of Kevin P. Chilton, Commander; Richard A. Searfoss, Pilot; and Mission Specialists Shannon W. Lucid, Linda M. Godwin, Michael R. Clifford, and Ronald M. Sega.

The primary mission objective was the third docking between the Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Russian Space Station Mir. It included a crew transfer, an extravehicular activity (EVA), logistics operations and scientific research.

Rendezvous and docking with Mir was on flight day three using the same approach as previously used during STS-74. Docking occured between the Orbiter Docking System in the forward area of Atlantis' payload bay and the Docking Module installed during STS-74 on Mir's Kristall module docking port.

The mission also featured a SPACEHAB module, middeck experiments, a Get Away Special (GAS) canister and a 6-hour EVA.

Over 1,900 pounds (862 kilograms) of equipment were being transfered from Atlantis to Mir including a gyrodyne, transformer, batteries, food, water, film and clothing. Launch was at 3:13:04 a.m. EST, with 145 (estimated) orbits.

The mission lasted 9 days, 5 hours, 16 minutes, and 48 seconds, with the shuttle traveling and estimated 3.8 million miles. Landing was at Edwards AFB (EAFB) 31 March 1996, at 8:28:57 a.m. EST, on Runway 22. Conditions at EAFB were clear and calm with no weather concerns. Landing was 11 min before daylight at 5:29 a.m. local time, which is considered a daylight landing under flight rules.

The deorbit burn fired at 7:24 a.m. EST. Atlantis executed a 275 degree left overhead turn into the landing strip and twin sonic booms were heard at Edwards 3 minutes before landing. Main gear touchdown occurred at 9 days 5 hours 15 min. 53 sec. or 8:28:57 EST.

Space Shuttles are used as orbiting laboratories in which scientists and mission specialists conduct a wide variety of scientific experiments. Crews aboard shuttles place satellites in orbit, rendezvous with satellites to carry out repair missions and return them to space, and retrieve satellites and return them to Earth for refurbishment and reuse.

Space Shuttles are true aerospace vehicles. They leave Earth and its atmosphere under rocket power provided by three liquid-propellant main engines withtwo solid-propellant boosters attached plus an external liquid-fuel tank. After their orbital missions, they streak back through the atmosphere and land like airplanes. The returning shuttles, however, land like gliders, without power and on runways. Other rockets can place heavy payloads into orbit, but, they can only be used once. Space Shuttles are designed to be continually reused.

When Space Shuttles are used to transport complete scientific laboratories into space, the laboratories remain inside the payload bay throughout the mission. They are then removed after the Space Shuttle returns to Earth and can be reused on future flights. Some of these orbital laboratories, like the Spacelab, provide facilities for several specialists to conduct experiments in such fields as medicine, astronomy, and materials manufacturing. Some types of satellites deployed by Space Shuttles include those involved in environmental and resources protection, astronomy, weather forecasting, navigation, oceanographic studies, and other scientific fields.

The Space Shuttles can also launch spacecraft into orbits higher than the Shuttle’s altitude limit through the use of Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) propulsion units. After release from the Space Shuttle payload bay, the IUS is ignited to carry the spacecraft into deep space. The Space Shuttles are also being used to carry elements of the International Space Station into space where they are assembled in orbit.

The Space Shuttles were built by Rockwell International’s Space Transportation Systems Division, Downey, California. Rockwell’s Rocketdyne Division (now part of Boeing) builds the three main engines, and Thiokol, Brigham City, Utah, makes the solid rocket booster motors. MartinMarietta Corporation (now Lockheed Martin), New Orleans, Louisiana, makes the external tanks.

Each orbiter (Space Shuttle) is 121 feet long, has a wingspan of 78 feet, and a height of 57 feet. The Space Shuttle is approximately the size of a DC-9 commercial airliner and can carry a payload of 65,000 pounds into orbit. The payload bay is 60 feet long and 15 feet in diameter. Each main engine is capable of producing a sea level thrust of 375,000 pounds and a vacuum (orbital) thrust of 470,000 pounds. The engines burn a mixture of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. In orbit, the Space Shuttles circle the earth at a speed of 17,500 miles per hour with each orbit taking about 90 minutes. A Space Shuttle crew sees a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. When Space Shuttle flights began in April 1981, Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, was the primary landing site for the Shuttles. Now Kennedy Space Center, Florida, is the primary landing site with Dryden remaining as the principal alternate landing site.