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Mir Dreams



影像提供: STS-76 Crew, NASA

Explanation:
      This dream-like image of Mir was recorded by astronauts as the space shuttle orbiter Atlantis approached the Russian space station prior to docking during the STS-76 mission in 1996. Sporting spindly appendages and solar panels, Mir resembles a whimsical flying insect hovering about 350 kilometers above New Zealand's South Island and the city of Nelson near Cook Strait. Mir was launched 20 years ago this week, and served as a continuously occupied orbital outpost until August 1999. Mir was visited by over 100 spacefarers from the nations of planet Earth including, Russia, the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Japan, Austria, Kazakhstan and Slovakia. The Mir was deorbited in March 2001.

說明:
      在STS-76任務期間，當亞特蘭提斯號太空梭正好要接近和平號太空站船塢之際，太空人拍下了這張夢幻般的照片。 細長的太空艙與太陽能板，使得飛行高度大約是350公里的和平號太空站，看起像一隻漂浮在紐西蘭南島庫克海峽和尼爾森市上空350公里高的怪異飛蟲。和平號太空站是二十年前的這星期發射昇空的，直到1999年8月為止這個軌道前哨站一直都有駐站的工作人員。超過100位太空人曾造訪過和平號太空站，其中包括俄國、美國、英國、德國、法國、日本、奧地利、哈薩克以及斯洛伐克等國的太空人。和平號太空站在2001年3月墜回地球大氣中。

資料來源: Scientific American
               Department of Physics, NCKU