Astronaut Ends Her Stay With Russians

Astronaut Shannon Lucid gave her colleagues aboard the Russian space station Mir a farewell embrace Monday and then floated into shuttle Atlantis, the hatch closing behind her for the ride home.

The shuttle was to undock from Mir later and return to Earth on Thursday, ending Lucid’s record-breaking stay of 188 days in space.

“I’m really happy and I also feel just a little sad,” said Lucid, who holds the space endurance record for a woman and an American. “This has been my home for six months, and I’ve had a great time here. But obviously I’m very, very anxious to go back to my real home back in Houston, Texas, with my family.”

Mir commander Valery Korzun said: “Not only are we saying goodbye to a colleague but to a very fine person.”