STS-76

{{Spaceflight crew

|terminology = Astronaut

|position1 = Commander

|crew1_up = Kevin P. Chilton

|flights1_up = Third and last

|position2 = Pilot

|crew2_up = Richard A. Searfoss

|flights2_up = Second

|position3 = Mission Specialist 1

|crew3_up = Ronald M. Sega

|flights3_up = Second and last

|position4 = Mission Specialist 2
Flight Engineer

|crew4_up = Michael R. Clifford

|flights4_up = Third and last

|position5 = Mission Specialist 3

|crew5_up = Linda M. Godwin

|flights5_up = Third

|position6 = Mission Specialist 4

|crew6_up = Shannon Lucid

|flights6_up = Fifth and last

|expedition6_up = EO-21

|crew6_down = None

}}

• Godwin and Clifford – EVA 1
• EVA 1 Start: 27 March 1996 – 06:34 UTC
• EVA 1 End: 27 March 1996 – 12:36 UTC
• Duration: 6 hours, 02 minutes

File:STS76 Atlantis Launch.jpg{{LaunchAttempt

| date1 = 1996-03-21 3:35 AM

| result1 = Scrubbed

| reason1 = Weather

| decision_date1 = 1996-03-20 18:30

| weathergo1 = 20

| notes1 = High winds at KSC and rough seas in SRB recovery area.{{cite web |last1=Legler |first1=Robert D. |last2=Bennett |first2=Floyd V. |date=September 1, 2011 |title=Space Shuttle Missions Summary |url=https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021052010/https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/space-shuttle-missions-summary.pdf |archive-date=October 21, 2020 |access-date=January 6, 2021 |website=Scientific and Technical Information (STI) Program Office |publisher=NASA |pages=91-92 |id=NASA/TM–2011–216142}} {{PD-notice}}{{Cite web |date=1996-03-21 |title=March 21, 1996 Shuttle Status Report |url=http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/stsstat/1996/mar/3-21-96s.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104022844/http://www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov/kscpao/status/stsstat/1996/mar/3-21-96s.htm |archive-date=2013-11-04 |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=NASA}}

| date2 = 1996-03-22 3:13:04 AM

| result2 = Success

| weathergo2 = 90{{Cite news |date=1996-03-22 |title=WINDS DELAY SHUTTLE LAUNCH FOR MIR MISSION |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/03/22/winds-delay-shuttle-launch-for-mir-mission/ |access-date=2025-03-13 |work=Chicago Tribune}}

| notes2 = Leak developed in hydraulic system 3 leaked during ascent.{{Reference page|page=2}}

}}

The mission was the third linkup between a U.S. Space Shuttle and Russian space station Mir, and brought veteran astronaut Shannon Lucid to Mir to become the first American woman to live on the station. Her approximately four-and-a-half-month stay also eclipsed the long-duration U.S. spaceflight record set by the first American to live on Mir, Norman Thagard. Lucid was succeeded by astronaut John E. Blaha during STS-79 in August 1996, giving her the distinction of membership in four different flight crews — two U.S. and two Russian—and her stay on Mir kicked off the continuous U.S. presence in space for the next two years.

Payload bay configuration included the Orbiter Docking System in the forward area and a SPACEHAB single module toward the aft. STS-76 marked the first flight of a SPACEHAB pressurized module to support Shuttle-Mir dockings. The single module primarily served as a stowage area for a large supply of equipment for transfer to space station, but also carried the European Space Agency's Biorack experiment rack for on-orbit research.

Atlantis hooked up with Mir on flight day three, following same R-bar approach employed on STS-74. Actual connection between Orbiter Docking System and the Kristall module's docking port occurred at 02:50 UTC{{cite tech report |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19970001425/downloads/19970001425.pdf |title=STS-76 Space Shuttle MIssion Report |publisher=NASA |date=May 1996 |accessdate=December 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628085442/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19970001425/downloads/19970001425.pdf |archive-date=June 28, 2023 |url-status=live }}{{Reference page|page=4}} on 24 March 1996. Hatches opened a little less than two hours later. Awaiting Atlantis arrival were Mir 21 Commander Yury Onufriyenko and Flight Engineer Yuri Usachov, who were launched to Mir on 21 February 1996. In July, they were joined by Mir 22 Commander Valery Korzun, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Kaleri and CNES astronaut Claudie André-Deshays. After a two-week stay, André-Deshays would return to Earth with Onufriyenko and Usachov while Korzun and Kaleri remained on board with Lucid.

During five days of docked operations, about {{cvt|680|kg}} of water and two tons of scientific equipment, logistical material and resupply items were transferred to Mir. Experiment samples and miscellaneous equipment brought over to orbiter. In Biorack, 11 separate scientific investigations were conducted. Study topics included the effect of microgravity and cosmic radiation on plants, tissues, cells, bacteria and insects, and the effects of microgravity on bone loss. Also transferred to the station were the Mir Glovebox Stowage (MGBX) equipment to replenish the glovebox already on station, the Queen's University Experiment in Liquid Diffusion (QUELD) flown in the orbiter's middeck locker, and the High Temperature Liquid Phase Sintering (LPS) experiment.

On flight day six, Godwin and Clifford conducted what some claim to be the first U.S. extravehicular activity (EVA) around two mated spacecraft. However, this appears to ignore the Apollo 9 EVA, and EVAs during Skylab. During six-hour, two-minute, 28-second EVA, they attached four Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP) experiments to the station's docking module - designed to characterize the environment around Mir over an 18-month period. Godwin and Clifford wore Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER) propulsive devices - first flight-tested during STS-64.

Other payloads included Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX), KidSat, a project that gives middle school students opportunity to participate in space exploration, and Trapped Ions in Space (TRIS), a Naval Research Laboratory experiment flown in a Getaway Special canister in the payload bay.

Image:Sts076 Linda Godwin Spacewalk.jpg|Astronaut Linda M. Godwin translates along the longeron of Atlantis' cargo bay starboard side during EVA 1.

Image:STS-76 Atlantis Landing.jpg|Atlantis lands at the Edwards Air Force Base on 31 March 1996.

Image:Shuttle_Atlantis_at_Davis_Monthan_AFB.jpg|Shuttle Atlantis arriving at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona during the return trip from Edwards Air Force Base to Kennedy Space Center in April 1996.

{{Portal|Spaceflight}}

• List of human spaceflights
• List of human spaceflights to Mir
• List of Space Shuttle missions
• Outline of space science

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-76/mission-sts-76.html NASA mission summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806102139/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-76/mission-sts-76.html |date=6 August 2013 }}
• [http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle76.htm STS-76 Video Highlights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715085651/http://www.nss.org/resources/library/shuttlevideos/shuttle76.htm |date=15 July 2014 }}
• [http://www.balettie.com/sts-76/ STS-76 - Letters from the Lead FDO]

{{Shuttle-Mir}}

{{Space Shuttle Atlantis}}

{{Crewed Mir flights}}

{{All U.S. Space Shuttle Missions}}

{{Orbital launches in 1996}}

Category:Spacecraft launched in 1996

Category:Edwards Air Force Base

STS-076