WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

The orbiter Atlantis swoops down on Runway 33 at KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility. Main gear touchdown was scheduled to occur at about 12:02 pm. EST, November 20. Atlantis' return to Florida brings to a conclusion Space Shuttle Mission STS-74, the final Shuttle flight of 1995. During their eight days in orbit the five astronauts aboard Atlantis conducted the second docking of the U.S. Space Shuttle to the Russian Space Station Mir, further paving the way toward the international space station. They left behind a Russian-built Docking Module attached to Mir to simplify the remaining five Shuttle-Mir docking currently scheduled, and transferred materials to and from Mir. Leading the STS-74 crew is Commander Kenneth D. Cameron; James D. Halsell Jr. is the pilot; the three mission specialists are Jerry L. Ross, William S. "Bill" McArthur Jr. and Chris A. Hadfield, who represents the Canadian Space Agency.