WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

At the Skid Strip on Cape Canaveral Air Station, members of the STS-86 crew prepare to return to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. The Oct. 6 landing of the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis following the successful STS-86 mission returned astronaut C. Michael Foale to Earth after an approximate four-and-a-half-month stay aboard the Russian Space Station Mir. Foale, a member of the Mir 24 crew, was dropped off on the Russian space station during the STS-84 mission in mid-May. He joined the STS-86 crew aboard Atlantis for the return trip to Earth. STS-86 was the seventh docking of the Space Shuttle with the Mir. STS-86 Mission Specialist David A. Wolf replaced Foale on the Russian station.