Editing Shuttle–Mir program (section)

===Fire and collision (1997)===
[[Image:Mir after Fire.jpg|thumb|A charred panel onboard ''Mir'' following the fire|alt=A white panel covered in buttons, which shows signs of fire damage on its bottom edge. Wiring and other pieces of hardware are arrayed beneath the panel.]]

In 1997 [[STS-81]] replaced Increment astronaut John Blaha with [[Jerry Linenger]], after Blaha's 118-day stay aboard ''Mir''. During this fifth shuttle docking, the crew of ''Atlantis'' moved supplies to the station and returned to Earth the first plants to complete a life cycle in space; a crop of wheat planted by Shannon Lucid. During five days of mated operations, the crews transferred nearly {{convert|6000|lb}} of logistics to ''Mir'', and transferred {{convert|2400|lb}} of materials back to ''Atlantis'' (the most materials transferred between the two spacecraft to that date).<ref name="STS-81"/>

The STS-81 crew also tested the Shuttle Treadmill [[Vibration isolation|Vibration Isolation]] and Stabilization System (TVIS), designed for use in the [[Zvezda (ISS module)|''Zvezda'' module]] of the International Space Station. The shuttle's small vernier jet thrusters were fired during the mated operations to gather engineering data for "reboosting" the ISS. After undocking, ''Atlantis'' performed a fly-around of ''Mir'', leaving Linenger aboard the station.<ref name="SMH Flights"/><ref name="STS-81">{{cite web|title=STS-81 Mission Summary|author=Jim Dumoulin|publisher=NASA|date=June 29, 2001|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-81/mission-sts-81.html|access-date=March 30, 2007|archive-date=May 20, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070520090649/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-81/mission-sts-81.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Mir collision damage STS086-720-091.JPG|thumb|Picture of the damage caused by the collision with Progress M-34, taken by ''Atlantis'' during [[STS-86]]]]

During his Increment, Linenger became the first American to conduct a spacewalk from a foreign space station and the first to test the Russian-built [[Orlan space suits|Orlan-M]] spacesuit alongside Russian cosmonaut [[Vasili Tsibliyev]]. All three crewmembers of expedition EO-23 performed a "fly-around" in the Soyuz spacecraft, first undocking from one docking port of the station, then manually flying to and redocking the capsule at a different location. This made Linenger the first American to undock from a space station aboard two different spacecraft (Space Shuttle and Soyuz).<ref name="LoME"/>

Linenger and his Russian crewmates Vasili Tsibliyev and [[Aleksandr Lazutkin]] faced several difficulties during the mission. These included the most severe fire aboard an orbiting spacecraft (caused by a backup oxygen-generating device), failures of various on board systems, a near collision with a [[Progress spacecraft|Progress]] resupply cargo ship during a long-distance manual docking system test and a total loss of station electrical power. The power failure also caused a loss of [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude control]], which led to an uncontrolled "tumble" through space.<ref name="SSSM"/><ref name="Dragonfly"/><ref name="OffPlanet"/><ref name="SMH Flights"/>

The next NASA astronaut to stay on ''Mir'' was [[Michael Foale]]. Foale and Russian mission specialist [[Elena Kondakova]] boarded ''Mir'' from ''Atlantis'' on mission [[STS-84]]. The STS-84 crew transferred 249 items between the two spacecraft, along with water, experiment samples, supplies and hardware. One of the first items transferred to ''Mir'' was an Elektron oxygen-generating unit. ''Atlantis'' was stopped three times while backing away during the undocking sequence on May 21. The aim was to collect data from a European sensor device designed for future rendezvous of [[ESA]]'s [[Automated Transfer Vehicle]] (ATV) with the International Space Station.<ref name="SMH Flights"/><ref>{{cite web|title=STS-84 Mission Summary|author=Jim Dumoulin|publisher=NASA|date=June 29, 2001|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-84/mission-sts-84.html|access-date=March 30, 2007|archive-date=February 10, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210102245/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-84/mission-sts-84.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Image:Damaged Spektr solar array.jpg|thumb|left|Damaged solar arrays on ''Mir''{{'s}} ''Spektr'' module following a collision with an uncrewed [[Progress spacecraft]] in September 1997|alt=A gold-coloured solar array, bent and twisted out of shape and with several holes. The edge of a module can be seen to the right of the image, and Earth is visible in the background.]]

Foale's Increment proceeded fairly normally until June 25, when a resupply ship collided with solar arrays on the ''[[Spektr]]'' module during the second test of the Progress manual docking system, TORU. The module's outer shell was hit and holed, which caused the station to lose pressure. This was the first on-orbit depressurization in the history of spaceflight. The crew quickly cut cables leading to the module and closed ''Spektr''{{'s}} hatch in order to prevent the need to abandon the station in their Soyuz lifeboat. Their efforts stabilized the station's air pressure, whilst the pressure in ''Spektr'', containing many of Foale's experiments and personal effects, dropped to a vacuum. Fortunately, food, water and other vital supplies were stored in other modules, and salvage and replanning effort by Foale and the science community minimized the loss of research data and capability.<ref name ="Dragonfly"/><ref name="SMH Flights"/>

In an effort to restore some of the power and systems lost following the isolation of ''Spektr'' and to attempt to locate the leak, ''Mir''{{'s}} new commander [[Anatoly Solovyev]] and [[flight engineer]] [[Pavel Vinogradov]] carried out a salvage operation later in the mission. They entered the empty module during a so-called "IVA" spacewalk, inspecting the condition of hardware and running cables through a special hatch from ''Spektr''{{'s}} systems to the rest of the station. Following these first investigations, Foale and Solovyev conducted a 6-hour EVA on the surface of ''Spektr'' to inspect the damaged module.<ref name="SMH Flights"/><ref>
{{cite news|author=David Hoffman|title=Crucial Mir spacewalk carries high hopes – continued Western support could hinge on mission's success|newspaper=Washington Post|page=a1|date=August 22, 1997|publisher=Retrieved March 9, 2007 from NewsBank}}</ref>

[[Image:Mir (STS-86).jpg|thumb|A view of ''Mir'' from ''Atlantis''{{'s}} window, showing several of the station's modules and the docked Soyuz capsule|alt=A cluster of modules, covered in white insulation and projecting feathery solar arrays, with a small spacecraft covered in brown insulation docked at their centre. The image is seen through a window, with the blackness of space and the Earth forming the backdrop.]]

After these incidents, the US Congress and NASA considered whether to abandon the program out of concern for astronauts' safety but NASA administrator [[Daniel Goldin]] decided to continue the program.<ref name="OffPlanet"/> The next flight to ''Mir'', [[STS-86]], brought Increment astronaut [[David Wolf (astronaut)|David Wolf]] to the station.

STS-86 performed the seventh Shuttle–''Mir'' docking, the last of 1997. During ''Atlantis''{{'s}} stay crew members Titov and Parazynski conducted the first joint US–Russian extravehicular activity during a Shuttle mission, and the first in which a Russian wore a US spacesuit. During the five-hour spacewalk, the pair affixed a {{convert|121|lb|adj=on}} Solar Array Cap to the [[Mir Docking Module|Docking Module]], for a future attempt by crew members to seal off the leak in ''Spektr''{{'s}} hull. The mission returned Foale to Earth, along with samples, hardware, and an old Elektron oxygen generator, and dropped Wolf off on the Station ready for his 128-day Increment. Wolf had originally been scheduled to be the final ''Mir'' astronaut, but was chosen to go on the Increment instead of astronaut [[Wendy Lawrence]]. Lawrence was deemed ineligible for flight because of a change in Russian requirements after the Progress supply vehicle collision. The new rules required that all ''Mir'' crew members should be trained and ready for spacewalks, but a Russian spacesuit could not be prepared for Lawrence in time for launch.<ref name="SMH Flights"/><ref>{{cite web|title=STS-86 Mission Summary|author=Jim Dumoulin|publisher=NASA|date=June 29, 2001|url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-86/mission-sts-86.html|access-date=March 30, 2007|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230243/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/sts-86/mission-sts-86.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Image:STS-91 Landing.jpg|thumb|left|Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' lands at the end of [[STS-91]] on 12 June 1998, bringing the Shuttle–''Mir'' program to a close.|alt=A spaceplane, coloured white on its topside and black on its underside, lands on a runway. A strip of turf is visible in the foreground, there are trees in the background and there is a cloud of smoke coming from the spaceplane's rear wheels.]]