STS-60

STS-60 was the first mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried Sergei K. Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard a Space Shuttle. The mission used Space Shuttle Discovery, which lifted off from Launch Pad 39A on 3 February 1994 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission carried the Wake Shield Facility experiment and a SPACEHAB module into orbit, and carried out a live bi-directional audio and downlink link-up with the cosmonauts aboard the Russian space station Mir.

Crew

Mission highlights

After External Tank separation and main engine cutoff, a 2.5 min OMS burn was initiated at 7:52 am EST that circularized Discovery’s orbit from a 40 by 190 nautical mile (74 by 352 kilometres (219 mi)) orbit to 190 by 190 nautical miles (353 by 352 kilometres (219 mi)). Shortly after liftoff, pilot Kenneth S. Reightler Jr. experienced problems with his portable headset. The problem was traced to the Headset Interface Unit (HIU) and that unit was swapped with a flight spare. The payload bay doors were opened and around 8:45 am EST the crew was given a go for on-orbit operations.