WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Employees of the Russian aerospace company RSC Energia attach trunnions to the Russian-built docking module in the Space Station Processing Facility at KSC so that it can be mounted in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis. The module will fly as a primary payload on the second Space Shuttle/Mir space station docking mission, STS-74, which is now scheduled for liftoff in the fall of 1995. During the mission, the module will first be attached with the orbiter's robot arm to the Orbiter Docking System (ODS) in the payload bay of the orbiter Atlantis and then be docked with the Mir. When Atlantis undocks from the Mir, it will leave the new docking module permanently attached to the space station for use during future Shuttle Mir docking missions. The new module will simplify future Shuttle linkups with Mir by improving orbiter clearances when it serves as a bridge between the two space vehicles.