Hello, Readers,

On June 29,1995, the American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth. To make the docking, the shuttle’s commander, Robert “Hoot” Gibson, had to steer the 100-ton shuttle to within three inches of Mir at a closing rate of no more than one foot every 10 seconds. The docking went perfectly and was completed at 8 a.m., just two seconds off the targeted arrival time and using 200 pounds less fuel than had been anticipated. A formal exchange of gifts followed, with the Atlantis crew bringing chocolate, fruit and flowers and the Mir cosmonauts offering traditional Russian welcoming gifts of bread and salt. Atlantis remained docked with Mir for five days before returning to Earth.