June 29th, 1995 - A precursor to what would become routine with the ISS, OV-105 Atlantis and the crew of STS-71 dock with the Russian Mir space station for the first of nine dockings of the Shuttle-Mir Program. Atlantis was to make 7 of these flights, with Discovery and Endeavour each docking with Mir once.

With the Shuttle-Mir program, the United States gained a valuable knowledge in long-duration spaceflight, useful for the future International Space Station.

Mir would continue it’s service life until 2001, after 15 years in orbit, was deorbited and allowed to break up over the south Pacific.