1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,960 Speaker 1: a show for those who can never know enough about history. 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 1: I'm Gabelusier, and today we're talking about a historic moment 5 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: in space exploration, the day when two longtime competitors finally 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 1: joined forces, both symbolically and literally. The day was June nine. 7 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: The American space shuttle Atlantis docked in orbit with the 8 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: Russian space station Mirror. The two spacecraft remained connected for 9 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:51,639 Speaker 1: the next five days. During that time, the complex they 10 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: formed was the largest man made object ever in orbit, 11 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: weighing in at about two hundred and twenty five tons. 12 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: That record would eventually be broken by Mirrors successor the 13 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: International Space Station or i s S records aside, though, 14 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: the Atlantis Mire docking was a promising display of cooperation 15 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: between two former Cold War rivals and their competing space programs. 16 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,119 Speaker 1: NASA chief Daniel Golden referred to it as the dawn 17 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:26,400 Speaker 1: of quote a new era of friendship and cooperation between 18 00:01:26,440 --> 00:01:30,840 Speaker 1: the two nations. The Shuttle Mirror program was one of 19 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:35,080 Speaker 1: several collaborative projects the two countries worked on together. The 20 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: goal of the eleven mission program was largely to pave 21 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:42,480 Speaker 1: the way for the planned International Space Station. The shuttle 22 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: Mirror missions were meant to provide US crew members with 23 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: long duration flight experience, as well as the chance to 24 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: conduct scientific research on the dues and don'ts of life 25 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: in micro gravity. It would also give the two countries 26 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:00,320 Speaker 1: a taste of the cooperation and coordination that it take 27 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: to construct something as huge and complicated as the I 28 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,520 Speaker 1: s S. Space shuttles were scheduled to rendezvous with Mirror 29 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:11,920 Speaker 1: eleven times over the course of the four year program, 30 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:15,400 Speaker 1: with Atlantis being the first American shuttle to dock with 31 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 1: the Russian station. Atlantis and its seven person crew blasted 32 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June. 33 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: Two days later, at a little after six am, the 34 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: space shuttle approached Mirror in orbit, roughly two hundred and 35 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: fifty miles above Central Asia. When the three cosmonauts on 36 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: the station caught sight of the American shuttle, they started 37 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: broadcasting Russian folk songs as a way to greet their visitors. 38 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: The welcome was a little premature, though, as it would 39 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: still take nearly two hours for the shuttles. Commander Robert 40 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:57,160 Speaker 1: hoot Gibson to actually dock the one ton shuttle. That 41 00:02:57,320 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 1: may sound like a long time to park a shuttle, 42 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: but every second was absolutely crucial to the task. That's 43 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: because in order to safely dock with the space station, 44 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: Gibson had to steer the shuttle within three inches of 45 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:15,480 Speaker 1: Mirror's exterior. Moving too fast might cause Atlantis to overshoot 46 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 1: mir while moving too slowly might lead to a collision. 47 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: To get the timing just right, Gibson position the space 48 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: shuttle directly beneath Mirror. That way, the Earth's gravity would 49 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: help slow its approach to the station. Shuttle pilot Charles 50 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: pre Court later like in the experience to something out 51 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: of Star Wars, saying that it reminded him of the 52 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: part when quote Luke Skywalker is flying in on his 53 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: ship and lands on the big station, because that's really 54 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: what you're seeing, this outpost against black space and this 55 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: huge planet's horizon in the background. Thankfully for diplomacy, pre 56 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 1: Court kept the Death Star comparisons to himself during his 57 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: visit to Mirror. Commander give Sin completed his expert docking 58 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,840 Speaker 1: procedure at eight am, having used two hundred pounds less 59 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: fuel than expected. Once the hatch was opened, Gibson and 60 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:15,560 Speaker 1: his crew were welcomed aboard Mire by its commander, Vladimir Desurov. Next, 61 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: the two crews exchanged gifts with one another. The Americans 62 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: gave flowers, fruit, and chocolate, while the Russians offered the 63 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: traditional welcoming gifts of their country, bread and salt. With 64 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: the fun stuff out of the way, the astronauts and 65 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 1: cosmonauts got down to business. Over the next five days, 66 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:38,400 Speaker 1: they collaborated on nearly one hours worth of scientific research, 67 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: with the main focus being biomedical studies. Some of the 68 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: time was also spent replenishing the mere crews critical supply 69 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: of fresh water, oxygen, and nitrogen. Once their bonding time 70 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: was over, the Atlantis crew prepared to detach from the 71 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:57,799 Speaker 1: station and head back to Earth. The return crew wouldn't 72 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,239 Speaker 1: be exactly the same, though at Lantis had brought two 73 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: fresh cosmonauts to stay behind on Mirror in their place. 74 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: Three veteran members of the station crew, two Russians and 75 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,680 Speaker 1: one visiting American, would be relieved and brought home aboard 76 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: the shuttle. It was one of the first times that 77 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: a space shuttle returned to Earth with more human passengers 78 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: than it had left with. Atlantis would link up with 79 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: Mirror six more times before the end of the Shuttle 80 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: Mirror program. The lessons learned during those missions were critical 81 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: for the planning and construction of the I S S, 82 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: which went into operation in the fall of As for Mirror, 83 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,760 Speaker 1: it gradually fell into disrepair, especially once its replacement was 84 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: up and running. Finally, in March of two thousand one, 85 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: after a decade and a half in orbit, the Mere 86 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: Space station returned to Earth for good. When all was 87 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: said and done, Mirror had circled the Earth about eighty 88 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: eight thousand times, traveling approximately two point to billion miles 89 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: in the process. Its retirement was very well earned. I'm 90 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,119 Speaker 1: Gabelusier and hopefully you now know a little more about 91 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 92 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 93 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if you 94 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: have any comments or suggestions, you can always send them 95 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: my way at this day at I heeart media dot com. 96 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks 97 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 98 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,280 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another day in History Class.