'Welcome home, Atlantis'

Shuttle lands successfully after nine-day mission

March 31, 1996
Web posted at: 9:20 a.m. EST

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, California -- Space shuttle Atlantis landed in the California desert just before sunrise Sunday, ending a successful docking with the Russian space station Mir to drop off NASA astronaut Shannon Lucid.

"Welcome home, Atlantis," a voice from Mission Control said, greeting the Atlantis crew members after their nine-day, five-hour trip.

"It feels good to be home," responded shuttle commander Kevin Chilton, a Los Angeles native.

Atlantis touched down at 8:29 a.m. EST (1329 GMT). Bad weather forced NASA to change the landing site from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Edwards Air Force Base in California. (1 MB QuickTime movie)

On Saturday and earlier Sunday, Mission Control tried to land Atlantis at the Florida space center, but on both days thick, low clouds interfered.

Flight directors finally gave up and ordered Chilton and his crew to Edwards, where the shuttle sailed smoothly to a landing in the clear morning air.

"Appreciate all the effort you made to try to get us into KSC. A lot of folks are disappointed, but we're looking forward to going back to California," Chilton said before beginning the hour-long descent.

Atlantis was the first shuttle to land at Edwards since March 18, 1995, when the shuttle Endeavour touched down there after the longest mission ever.

NASA prefers that shuttles land at its Florida space center, because it costs about $1 million and takes a week to transport the shuttle from California to Florida atop a modified jumbo jet.

During its mission, Atlantis docked with Mir for the third time and stayed linked to the Russian space station for five days.

Soon after the docking, Lucid, 53, transferred from the shuttle to Mir and became an official member of the Mir crew. Lucid will remain aboard Mir until August, when Atlantis returns to pick her up.

Also, NASA astronauts Linda Godwin and Rich Clifford conducted the first spacewalk by U.S. astronauts outside Mir. It was the first time in 22 years Americans have worked outside a space station. U.S. astronauts ventured outside Skylab in 1974.

On its voyage back to Earth, Atlantis suffered serious mechanical troubles.

The cargo bay doors jammed on Saturday when the crew tried to open them. The 60-foot doors must be open while the shuttle is in orbit to dispel heat collected from electronics and other equipment. The doors are then closed hours before the landing.

The problem was fixed later Saturday, and the doors closed without any problems early Sunday morning, NASA said. Two frozen microswitches were to blame for the scare.

It wasn't the first mechanical problem during the flight. Atlantis had a hydraulic leak just before the March 22 launch.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Related stories:

• Poor weather delays shuttle landing again - March 31
• Space shuttle crew resolves mechanical problem; Atlantis to land Sunday - March 30
• Peace above the big blue planet - March 29
• 'It was fun' - March 27
• Astronauts prepare for historic spacewalk - March 26
• Russian space center lies in ruins - March 24
• Atlantis gracefully docks with Mir - March 23
• Hydraulic leak won't shorten shuttle mission - March 22
• High winds delay shuttle launch - March 20

Related sites:

• STS-76 Atlantis mission page
• The Space Shuttle Clickable Map
• The STS-76 NASA Shuttle Web
• NASA's Shuttle-Mir Web
• Future Shuttle Missions
• Mir Watch
• How to see Mir in space

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