Shuttle-Mir tells the story from the human side. It is based on reflections and quotes from the astronauts, cosmonauts, and team members who participated in the historic partnership. The main chapters give the perspectives of the seven U.S. astronauts living on Mir. The “STS boxes” share the Space Shuttle crews' experiences from the 11 Shuttle-Mir missions. The “Meanwhile on Earth” sections provide details of what was happening on Earth while the attention of the Program focused on the situations in space. The reader is invited to explore the Shuttle-Mir story through the words, images, and insights of those who took part in it.

How could the newly authorized space shuttle help in the U.S. quest to build a large research station in Earth orbit? As a means of transporting goods, the shuttle could help supply the parts to the station. But how would the two entitles be physically linked? Docking technologies had to constantly evolve as the designs of the early space stations changed. It was hoped the shuttle would make missions to the Russian Salyut and American Skylab stations, but thesewere postponed until the Mir station became available, while plans for getting a new U. S. space station underway were stalled. In Linking the Space Shuttle and Space Stations, the author delves into the rich history of the Space Shuttle and its connection to these early space stations, culminating in the nine missions to dock the shuttle toMir. By 1998, after nearly three decades of planning and operations, shuttle missions to Mir had resulted in: • A proven system to link up the space shuttle to a space station• Equipment and hands-on experience in handling tons of materials• An infrastructure to support space station assembly and resupply Each of these played a pivotal role in developing the skills and procedures crucial to the creation of the later, much larger and far more complex International Space Station, as described in the companionvolume Assembling and Supplying the ISS: The Space Shuttle Fulfills Its Mission.

“An engrossing report.”—Booklist “Vividly captures the challenges and privations [Dr. Linenger] endured both before and during his flight.”—Library Journal Nothing on earth compares to Off the Planet—Dr. Jerry Linenger’s dramatic account of space exploration turned survival mission during his 132 days aboard the decaying and unstable Russian space station Mir. Not since Apollo 13 has an American astronaut faced so many catastrophic malfunctions and life-threatening emergencies in one mission. In his remarkable narrative, Linenger chronicles power outages that left the crew in complete darkness, tumbling out of control; chemical leaks and near collisions that threatened to rupture Mir’s hull; and most terrifying of all—a raging fire that almost destroyed the space station and the lives of its entire crew.

The U.S./Russian collaboration that used the Space Shuttle and the Mir Space Station as platforms for acquiring remote sensing information about the Earth between 1996 and 1998 produced significant scientific results on hydrology, land use, and changes in some of the Earth's most dynamic environments. Many of these outstanding images are presented here and compared with photographs taken during earlier missions, allowing detection of changes on the Earth's surface. Studies reported in this fascinating volume include observations of El Niño-related phenomena; fluctuating water levels of the Caspian and Aral Seas; smoke, dust, and aerosols in the atmosphere; urban land use changes; and drought in the southeastern United States and Mexico. This valuable information, and the techniques used to gather it, will form the basis for future remote sensing studies to be conducted from the International Space Station.

Presents a behind-the-scenes account of NASA's ambitious and sometimes tumultuous involvement with Russia's problem-plagued Mir space station over three years.