Atlantis (STS-76) launched 1996

STS-76 crew

Front row (L-R): Ronald Sega, Kevin Chilton, Richard Searfoss

Back row (L-R): Michael Clifford, Shannon Lucid, Linda Godwin

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-76), launched March 22, 1996, was the third Shuttle mission to dock with the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kevin Chilton, Pilot Richard Searfoss, Ronald Sega, Michael Clifford, Linda Godwin and Shannon Lucid.

Godwin and Clifford performed a space walk on March 27 which lasted 6 hours.  Shannon Lucid stayed on board Mir as part of Expedition Mir EO-21.

The rest of the crew returned to Earth March 31.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Ronald Sega!

Ronald Sega, born December 4, 1952 in Macedonia, Ohio, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994.  It was the first flight mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program. 

HIs second mission was on Atlantis (STS-76) in March 1996 also to the space station Mir as mission specialist. He has spent more than 17 days in space.

Discovery (STS-60) launched 1994

 

Clockwise from bottom left:  Kenneth Reightler, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Ronald Sega, Sergei Krikalev,  Jan Davis, Charles Bolden

Mission patch

The first mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program, Discovery (STS-60) was launched February 3, 1994.  Her crew consisted of Commander Charles Bolden Jr., Pilot Kenneth Reightler, Jr., Mission Specialist Jan Davis, Mission Specialist Ronald Sega, Mission Specialist Franklin Chang Diaz and Mission Specialist Sergei Krikalev, the first cosmonaut to fly on a U.S. Space Shuttle.

Several attempts were made to deploy the Wake Shield Facility, an experimental science platform, but problems arose each time.  It was finally deployed on a later space shuttle mission.

On February 7, Good Morning America performed a video hookup between Discovery (over the Pacific Ocean) and the three cosmonauts on Mir (over the southern United States).

Discovery returned to Earth February 11.