STS-79 Flight Day 8

On this eighth day of the STS-79 mission, the flight crew, Cmdr. William F. Readdy, Pilot Terrence W. Wilcutt, Mission Specialists, Thomas D. Akers, Shannon Lucid, Jay Apt, and Carl E. Walz, are seen bidding the crew of Mir farewell and then closing the hatches between their two spacecraft in preparation for undocking. The nine astronauts and cosmonauts gathered in the Core Module of the Russian space station for a formal goodbye. With the official ceremony complete, the crewmembers shared a final meal together and exchanged private farewells as Shannon Lucid prepared to return home in Atlantis and her replacement on Mir, John Blaha, began a four month stay on the station. Walz and Apt and Mir 22 Commander Valery Korzun with assistance from Flight Engineer 2 John Blaha, swung the hatches between their spacecraft closed concluding five days of joint operations. The vestibule between Atlantis and Mir was depressurized and leak checks were performed in readiness for undocking.