Space Shuttle Links With Mir Homesick American Astronaut Celebrates With Somersault

The shuttle Endeavour, carrying more than 2 tons of supplies and repair equipment, docked with the Mir space station Saturday, delivering a final U.S. crew member to wrap up an ambitious joint program.

Moving through space at 5 miles per second, the 110-ton shuttle and the aging 120-ton Russian space station gently linked up at 2:14 p.m. as the two spacecraft sailed 240 miles above Russia southeast of Moscow.

“It looks like a good capture,” radioed shuttle skipper Terrence Wilcutt.

Hatches between the shuttle and Mir were opened about two hours later, and Endeavour’s crew was welcomed aboard by Mir commander Anatoly Solovyev, flight engineer Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut David Wolf, launched to Mir aboard the shuttle Atlantis last September.

Wolf gave a thumbs-up and waved moments after the shuttle touched, then did a slow-motion somersault - the orbital equivalent of jumping up and down for joy.

“This whole event is touching me a little more than I predicted,” Wolf radioed Endeavour before the hatches were opened, obviously happy to see his ride home.

“Well, we’re glad to be here,” astronaut Bonnie Dunbar replied from the shuttle.

When the hatches finally swung open, Wolf embraced his shuttle comrades.

“You guys look great,” he said. “Thanks for coming to get me.” Although I could have lived fine a lot longer … there’s a lot of fun and good business to be done on Earth. It’s time to go back, I think.”

Wolf is the sixth U.S. astronaut to make a long-duration stay aboard Mir, and his replacement, astronaut Andrew Thomas, is the seventh and final such U.S. visitor. Thomas was scheduled to replace Wolf as a Mir crew member today.

When he returns to Earth aboard the shuttle Discovery in early June, Thomas will have logged 136 days in space, giving NASA astronauts a cumulative 972 days aboard the Russian space station since joint flights began in March 1995.

Mir suffered a variety of breakdowns last year. There were two near catastrophes when a fire broke out and later when a resupply vehicle collided with the station in June. But most of the station’s systems have been repaired and Thomas said he is not worried about Mir’s overall safety.

“As an engineer, I can say these systems are well designed, they’re robust, very strong, as evidenced by the fact that Mir continues to fly after 12 years,” he said. “I have a lot of confidence in them.”

The shuttle-Mir missions are intended to serve as a training ground before NASA and the Russian Space Agency begin assembly later this year of the much more complex international space station.

The joint flights have benefited the Russians by delivering needed supplies and equipment while NASA has gained valuable experience with long-duration space flight.

Saturday’s rendezvous began with Endeavour’s precisely timed launch Thursday. A carefully scripted series of rocket firings over the next two days brought the shuttle to a point 600 feet directly below Mir a little less than one hour before docking.

Then Wilcutt took over manual control of the shuttle, flying the orbiter from its aft flight deck using a joystick, computer monitors and the view out an overhead window.